
^ech'ofi 



RAWLINS & WILSON, 



CITY AND COUNTRY 



] ^ Rehl EsTi^T E Bought md Sold. ^ [ 

25,000 Acres of choice Hummock and Pine Lands, 
lying In all parts of Alachua County, for sale, 



Contractors and Builders of Orange Qro^es. 



proiiipl'fi^ ciltcnbcb Yo. 



Visitors to Gainesville are invited to make our office their 
headquarters during their stay. ' 

FLORIDA AND OTHER PAPERS KEPT ON FILE- 

L. K. Rawlins. P. F. Wilson. 



'^"riiv/i 



TH E 



Eden of the South, 



DESCRIPTIVE OF THE 



ORANGE GROVES, VEGETABLE FARMS, STRAWBERRY FIELDS, 

PEACH ORCHARDS, SOIL, CLIMATE, NATURAL 

PECULIARITIES, AND THE PEOPLE 

OF 

Alachua County, Florida, 



TOGETHER WITH OTHER VALUABLE INFORMATION 

FOR TOURISTS, INVALIDS, OR THOSE 

SEEKING A HOME IN 



Tine Orange Belt, Thie Lake Region, 
Xlne Vegetable Section, and. 

The Railroad Centre of Klorida. 

— 7-''^*%£a: 

By "CARL" WEBBER, 

Author of "Old Naumkrag," a history of the old "witch town" of Salem, 
Mass.; " Secrets of the Service," " Hard Li'ck," 

AND other works. 



NEW YORK, 

1883. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1883, 

BY 

C. H. WEBBER, 
IN THE Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



Leve & Ai.den's Publication Department, 
107 Liberty St., New York. 



SAVANNAH, FLORIDA & WESTERN RAILWAY. 



The ONLY KOUTE to all WINTEE KESOKTS in America. 

Florida, New Orleans, Texas, New and 
Old Mexico, Arizona, California and Cuba. 

The management of the Savannah, Florida & Western Railway, " Way- 
cross Short Line," desires to pi-esent to the traveling public a concise descrip- 
tion of the new, improved, and extended system between the North, East, West, 
and the South. The completion of the extension of the Savannah, Florida «fc 
Western Railway to a connection with the Pensacola & Atlantic Rail- 
road, opens a direct all-rail line from all Eastern and Northern points to Pen- 
sacola, Mobile, ISew Orleans, Southwestern Louisiana, Houston, Galveston, 
Austin, San Antonio, Eastern and Mi^ddle Texas, New and Old Mexico, 
Arizona and California. 

The Charleston & Savannah Railway 

(under the same management as the Savannah, Florida & Western Railway) has 
been put in thorough condition, with a new IRON BRIDGE over the Savannah 
River, and the entire road laid with steel rails. 

The "Waycross Short Line" gives to Charleston and the East a con- 
tinuous steel-rail line to JACKSONVILLE, FLA. 

The consolidation of the South Florida Railroad, now in operation between 
Sanford and Kissimmee, with our system, insures its completion to Tampa by 
or before the first of January next. Upon its completion to the Gulf, it is the 
purpose of the management to place a line of steamships on the route between 
Tampa, Key West, and Havana, built especially with a view to safety, speed, and 
the utmost comfort and luxury. The time betv.een Tampa and Havana will not 
exceed twenty eight hours, and between New York and Havana about three 
days and a half. At Tampa, connection Avill be made by coastwise steamer for 
all points on the Manatee River, Clear Water Harbor, Anclote, etc. 

The elegant service of Pullman Palace Buffet and Drawing-room 
Sleepers, inaugurated from New York and Washington to Charleston, Savan- 
nah, and Jacksonville direct, having met the unqualified approval of the travel- 
ing public, has been extended to New Orleans by the new line, via Chat- 
tahoochee, making but ONE CHANGE OF CARS BETWEEN NEW YORK 
AND NEW ORLEANS, at Savannah. 

For Time-Tables, Guide-Books (new Guide to South Georgia and Florida 
will be issued October next), Rates and General Information, by All Routes, 
Rail or Steamship, address 

FLORIDA HEADQUARTERS, 

271 Broadway, cor. Chambers St., New York. 

JAS. L. TAYLOR, C. D. OWENS, 

Gen'l Pass. Agt., Savannah, Ga. General Agent, N. Y. 

JOiNAH H. W^HITE, Eastern Pass. Agt., 
Sept. 18, 1883. 271 Broadway, New York. 



INDEX 



PAGE. 

WHYS AND WHEREFORES 5 

AI.ACHUA COUNTY : 

Its general Attractions 11 

Alachua's Natural Curiosities 16 

Alachua County Products 23 

Alachua County Lands 28 

THE LAKE REGION : 

Gainesville 32 

New Gainesville 45 

Waldo 49 

Micanopy and Evanston 56 

Hawthorne 60 

Fairbanks and Yulee 61 

Melrose and Banana 62 

Campville and Magnesia Springs 63 

Gruelle, Lockloosa and Tarver 64 

Flora 65 

AGRICULTURAL SECTION : 

New uansville 66 

Archer and Palmer 71 

Arredonda and Hummock Ridge 77 

Lacrosse, Gordon, Sugar Grove, Jonesville, Trenton, Frankland, 
Wacasassee, Fort Fanning, Suwanee, Worthington Springs, 

and Fort Clark. 80 

Fort Harley 81 

Wayside Notes 82 

East Florida Seminary 84 

Legislators, Judges, and U. S. Officials 87 

Representative Horticulturists and Agriculturists 89 

Florida Long Cotton 99 

THE RAILROAD CENTRE 102 

ADVERTISEMENTS 104 

14 ILLUSTTRATIONS. 




DREDGING SANTA FE LAKE, UNDER THE SUPERIXTENDEXCE OF NED E. FARREL. 




THE COLEMAN HUU5E. WALDO. 



INTRODUCTION. 

Land of the orange and beautiful flowers, 
Where the rieli-clustering grape encumbers the bowers, 
And the old Spanish moss festoons the broad trees, 
With beard long and gray, as the " Old Man of the Sea." 

Land of the lemon, the date and the palm. 
Where old ocean soothes the rough waves to a calm, 
As the swift-flowing tide to Mexican seas 
Warms the cold Avind to a tropical breeze. 

Land of the holly, magnolia and bay, 
Which fills the March breeze with the fragrance of May. 
As through the deep woods, in the halo of sheen, 
They speak to the heart of perennial green. 

IN presenting to the public the Eden of the South, I desire to 
acknowledge my thanks to the many kind friends whose names 
are mentioned therein. I desire, also, to state that it has been 
my endeavor to present my subject in a plain, matter-of-fact 
way, without elaboration or exaggeration. The contents are not 
made uj) of glittering generalities, but are solid facts gleaned ffom 
the people who should know the most about them. Overdrawn 
pen-i^ictures of Florida tend only to cause feelings of revolt in 
the mind of strangers when they enter the State. Florida is 
attractive enough as she is, without the aid of imaginary creations. 
The State is not a flower-garden ; the St. Johns River is not tlie 
Hudson ; the scenery here is unlike that of New England ; the 
woodlands are not like the dense jungles of Africa ; the soil is 
not rich and friable, but what would be commonly termed sandy; 
the ways of life are not metropolitan ; oranges and other fruits 
cannot be plucked from the trees here, there, and everywhere, 
without permission from the owners ; nor can one live liere 
without labor unless he is able to do so elsewhere. The great 
boast of Florida is of her adaptability to the growing of tropical 
and semi-tropical fruits, cotton, and early vegetables ; her attract- 
iveness as a winter resort ; her freedom from devastation by the 
elements, and her climate— which is, without doubt, the most 
charming in the world. As she is, all in all, grand in Nature's 
adornment of simplicity, the soul of tliat man is dead who cannot 
bask in her delights. "Carl." 




RESIDENCE OF COL,. H. F. DTJTTON, AT GAINESVILLE, FLOPIDA. 

In boring an artesian well on these premises in June, 1883, gold was discovered at a 
distance of VJ2 feet below the surface. 



cr'V-trJ^-Ti "^^^-1r*-*C-J"^ 

Midland Florida, ^*i^ 

THE ^ 




Eden of the South. 



WHYS AND WHEREFORES. 

§DEN is the Hebrew term for delight; therefore, when we term 
Midland Florida the Eden of the South, we mean that it is, 
all things considered, the most delightful portion of the 

^' Southern States. 

That the original Garden of Eden was a place similar to Midland 
Florida, we have ample proof. Figs grew there, and figs grow here. 
Because the people here do not resort to fig-leaf clothing after the 
fashion of our primitive ancestors, is no proof that the climate is 
not sufficiently charming to admit of such a luxury. 

Snakes dwelt in the original Eden, and snakes may be found in the 
Eden of the South. The original Eden being the most charming place 
which God saw fit to create as an abiding place for man, it is natural to 
suppose that there can be no place worthy the name of Eden, unless 
there be a snake or two about the premises. Unlike the snakes in 
the original Edeu, the snakes in the Eden of the South are not 
meddlers with other people's business. They keep within their own 
social circles, enjoying their own company, and are but seldom 
seen by the ladies of the present generation. In fact, so rare are 
they in the Eden of the South, that Judge Bell, of Gainesville, has 
been paying high prices for them during the past year or two, as 
specimens for the Smithsonian Institute at Washington. Civiliza- 
tion is extending so rapidly that the time is not far distant when 
the only venomous reptiles in the land to be feared will he such 
as may be found at the national capital. 

Owing to that early dilficulty between old mother Eve and the 
serpent, nearly all mankind have been compelled, until recently, to 



6 THE EDEN OF THE SOUTH. 

inhabit places where the cold in winter is intense, or the heat 
in summer oppressive. The eyes of our first parents having been 
opened disobediently to a knowledge of good and evil, they were 
driven from the Garden, and their eyes were blinded. There are 
many to-day with blinded eyes who look upon the soil of Florida as 
poor and unproductive, unable to detect the difference between rich 
Florida soil and beggarly Northern sand. The Seminole Indians, 
however, long ago saw the richness of Midland Florida, and they 
preferred to suffer the severest persecutions rather than be driven 
from it. 

As one visits the different points of interest in Midland Florida, 
the most of which are in their wild, natural state, he will dis- 
cover many things suggestive of his mental conception of the 
Garden of Eden. We doubt, if on the entire face of the earth 
another such place can be found, where in summer and in winter, 
among such forests, and by such shady brooks, and on such silvery 
lakes, can be experienced delights which so charm the soul to con- 
tentment and ease, and harmonize one's thoughts with Nature's 
balmy influences. There is but one Florida on the face of the 
earth, and it is to be wondered at that her charms, her bounties and 
her pearls of great price, were not long ago discovered and enjoyed 
by others than the uncivilized redmen. 

Florida was discovered, as everj^ geography, history and Florida 
pamphlet informs us, by Juan Ponce de Leon, of Spain, who, in 
search of the "fountain of perpetual youth," which he was led to 
believe existed here, landed on its eastern shores on Palm Sunday, 
in the year 1 512. Palm Sunday was called by the Spaniards in those 
days Pasqua Florida, or Flowery Easter. The shores of this new- 
found land was covered with palms and roses, as if the earth, recog- 
nizing the day, had prepared for its observance in accord with the 
Spanish custom. Thereupon de Leon gave to the country the name 
Florida, signifying Flowery Land, or, as it is now more commonly 
termed. The Land of Flowers. 

Ponce de Leon penetrated the upper part of the State to Wakulla 
Springs. Here he saw the clearness and purity of these waters, and 
felt certain of having found the object of his search, a plunge into 
which he believed would restore to him his youth. It is needless to 
state that he was very much surprised and disappointed when he 
came up out of the water, but no more so, perhaps, than many who 
now visit Florida under the impression that orange groves, fruit 
orchards and vegetable farms grow spontaneously, without the 
exercise of human skill and care, and that game of every description 



THE WHYS AND THE WHEREFORES. 7 

comes around to the doors of the inhabitants at meal times begging 
to be slaughtered and cooked. 

Florida has a history covering a period of nearly four hundred 
years, and yet, in spite of her unequaled natural advantages, she 
has to-day a smaller population, in proportion to her size, than any 
State in the Union, except, perhaps, Nevada and Colorado. Ever 
since her discovery she has been in an unsettled state. Her colonies 
have been massacred. She has been conquered and reconquered, 
ceded and re-ceded, and harassed by Indian wars. Just as she was 
entering upon a period of stability and prosperity she was plunged 
into a civil war, which decimated and impoverished her people. 
Under such discouragements and drawbacks it is not, after all, to be 
so greatly wondered at that foreign and domestic immigration was 
not earlier attracted and turned towards her limits. 

Florida now is no longer an unknown country. The war brought 
both Northern and Southern soldiers to her shores. New discover- 
ies were made that have directed the intelligence of the whole 
world to this land. A constantly rising tide of immigration is now 
flowing in. There has been a surprising increase in the number of 
inhabitants during the past ten years. The increase in the next ten 
years is beyond estimation. Thousands annually come down for 
pleasure, health, or to make new homes. Other thousands will 
come when they are truly informed of the advantages and attrac- 
tions of this beautiful and productive region. 

Florida is one of the largest States in the Union, with an area of 
nearly sixty thousand square miles. Although covered with lakes 
and rivers and streams, yet, in proportion to its size, she has as 
large an acreage of productive soil as any of the other States, ex- 
cept the prairie States of the West. She is the most southern of 
all the States, and, unlike the otliers, a peninsula, projecting south 
between the Atlantic ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. The peninsula 
portion of the State is some 300 miles in length, averaging about 
100 miles wide, gradually narrowing from north to south. So re- 
cently has the attention of land operators, fruit growers, agricul- 
turists and others been directed hither that it will be several years 
before the entire State will be in the hands of private individuals. 
Many of the very choicest localities are still in a state of nature, 
and there is room for an additional million of busy and prosperous 
workers. 

Visitors to Florida for the first time make Jacksonville their ob- 
jective point. In fact, to the average new comer, Jacksonville is 
Florida, and Florida is Jacksonville, when in reality that greatly 



^ THE EDEN OF THE SOUTH. 

favored city is but little over the Georgia line. Visitors are often 
surprised to hear people in Jacksonville talk of "going down South" 
as freely as if they were in Washington or New York. Florida soon 
becomes Florida to the stranger, however, when he learns that the 
State extends further south six degrees of latitude; then, in order to 
satisfy his desire, he is as apt to take a bee-line for Dade county, with 
its Indians and its swamps, as to visit Alachua, tlie most healthy, 
fertile and productive county in the State. 

Available information concerning this State at Jacksonville is very 
meagre and unsatisfactory. This the writer knows from his own 
experience. Great competition between railroads and steamboat 
companies makes information from such sources reliable only so far 
as it relates to their own business interests. In the whirlpool of con- 
flicting reports concerning the various parts of the peninsula, nine 
strangers out of every ten will follow the stream of travel regardless 
of whether they are seeking health, pleasure or a new^ home. They 
will, therefore, make the "grand tour " by the " regulation route,'' 
viz., up the St. Johns river to Palatka, Enterprise or Sanford, either 
of which places will be represented by some over-anxious informants 
as about the only place in Florida fit or safe to live at. But, of 
course, the stranger, who has by this time learned of the darkly mys- 
terious Ocklawaha, will be anxious for an excursion up that river, 
and he makes the trip, very few ever leaving the boat. If by this 
time he has not seen a place suited to his fancy, he returns to Jack- 
sonville, maybe visiting the very attractive, ancient city, St. Augus- 
tine, and thence out of the State, under the supposition that he has 
seen Florida, that it does not come up to his expectations, and that 
it is not what it has been represented to be. 

Means of communication and of transportation to tlie better por- 
tions of the interior of the State have, until recently, been attended 
with great difficulties, expense and hardships; therefore the tide of 
travel has been, by force of circumstances, turned in the most avail- 
able channel — up the St. Johns river to some one of the many pretty 
watering places that line her shores. These trips will ever continue 
to be charming and delightful to the pleasure-seeker, or as a bit of 
recreation to the invalid; but for those seeking homes, or a business 
through the resources and natural advantages of the State of 
Florida, disappointment will result from their wanderings in that 
direction. 

There is no part of the State that has not greater fertility of soil 
than its general sandy nature would suggest to the new-comer; but 
in a State so large and variable, there must be some portion that can 



MIDLAND FLORIDA. 9 

boast of a superiority, and that portion is Alachua county, in Mid- 
land Florida, as we design to fully show. The settlers in the differ- 
ent parts of the State are honestly prejudiced in favor of that portion 
where they have located; but, above such prejudiced opinions, we 
have, at all times, in such matters an authority not warped by per- 
sonal interests, nor by the honest views which emanate from a love 
which one naturally bears for that which is one's own. 




A PRETTY FLORIDA HOME. 

Alachua county is the midland portion of the great peninsula, sit- 
uated midway between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic ocean, 
likewise midway between the southern and western extremities of 
the State. Italy is said to resemble the form of a boot, with the foot 
turned southward. Florida has somewhat the same resemblance, 
with the foot turned northward. In this resemblance Alachua 
county occupies the position of the ankle-joint, and is, therefore, the 
natural centre of the State. It likewise is located upon the southern 
extremity of the high lands which extend from the northwestern 



10 THE EDEN OP THE SOUTH. 

portion of the State, like the impression of a shoemaker's last inside 
the boot. 

There are three natural divisions under which Florida must always 
be considered. These divisions may be classified as temperate, tropi- 
cal and semi-tropical Florida. Semi-tropical Florida is situated be- 
tween the twenty-eighth and thirtieth parallels. North of this is the 
temperate, and south of it the tropical division. While the tropical 
fruits will not grow to profit in the temperate division, nor the tem- 
perate fruits in the tropical division, in the semi-tropical division, or 
Midland Florida, the products of all three of the divisions will grow 
side by side. Here may be found the orange, lemon, guava, fig, 
citron, grape and the innumerable garden vegetables growing for 
profit the year round. Cotton, rice, cane and all field crops pay 
largely, although in the southern or middle portion of the semi-tropi- 
cal division, corn, wheat and live stock are noticeably less productive 
than further north. 

Alachua county is peculiarly located and most remarkably favored. 
Situated in the northern portion of the semi-tropical division, she has 
all the climatic features of the tropical division, with the breezes 
from ocean to Gulf sweeping over her in the most delightful and ex- 
hilarating manner, while the nature of her soil partakes largely of 
the peculiarities and fertility of the temperate division, making it, 
for all kinds of temperate, tropical and semi-tropical products, the 
most productive county in the entire State. In sanitary matters 
this peculiarity of situation operates most advantageously, so that it 
is likewise, as it is freely admitted to be, the healthiest portion of 
the State. The many lakes in the eastern and southeastern portion 
of the county, in conuection with the other favorable features, may 
have something to do with the healthfulness and productiveness of 
Alachua county. By the above it will be seen that what may be 
true of one of these divisions of the State of Florida, as regards cli- 
mate, soil or products, may or may not be true of the others; hence 
the conflicting reports concerning the State, which, as before re- 
marked, is one of the largest in the Union, extending through six 
degrees of latitude. 




11 



ALACHUA COUNTY. 

ITS GENERAL ATTRACTIONS. 

,C% BIRD'S-EYE view from the top of the Arlington or the Varnum 
|^|/ houses in Gainesville, the county seat of Alachua county, 
d^ presents a wonderfully rare and beautiful sight. Directly 
beneath the eyes is nestled the court-house in the centre of Court- 
house Square, which is surrounded by the business houses of the city. 
Outside of this scene is a grand circle of tree-tops stretching away at 
every point as far as the horizon. At this elevated position one feels 
as if standing upon the inner edge of an immense wreath of ever- 
green, formed by cutting out the centre, into which had been planted 
a hive of industry, inside of which busy human bodies are moving 
from point to point, hither and thither, across the Court-house 
Square and through the streets, appearing and disappearing, like 
the changing scenes of a kaleidoscope. Over and above all 
this the sky seemingly rests upon its apparent edge at the horizon, 
like an immense bowl turned upside down: the whole forming a 
charming picture, which, like a scene at sea, is grand in its absence 
of variety. 

Within this charming circle, of which Gainesville may well be 
termed the "Hub," as she is of the State, rests Alachua county, 
sitting like a queen upon the southern brow of the hill portion of 
the State, nearly 200 feet above the level of the sea, surrounded by 
her sister counties, who bow reverently before her with due homage 
and respect, because of her richest of all God-given gifts, healthful- 
ness and productiveness. 

Natural beauties, fertility of soil, perfect water sheds, regular un- 
derdrains. a light, dry and invigorating air, the best of water, good 
society, a liberal, free-minded people, and the highest educational 
advantages, all of which are conducive to the healtli of both mind 
and body, are the chief characteristics of Alachua county. Here 
the Indian in the early days revelled in his delights, and lived in 
the greatest health and strength and happiness. Spaniards, En- 
glishmen and Americans, for the past three centuries have selected 
this county as the Eden spot of the South, and have found it at all 
times to be a natural sanatorium. 

During the past decade the "orange fever" has attracted thous- 
ands of visitors to various parts of Florida, the larger portion of 
them being distributed by force of transportation facilities up the 



13 ALACHUA COUNTY. 

St. Johns river, and into the southern portion of the State, the 
great impetus being occasioned by the seemingly fabulous tales of 
great wealth and sudden riches secured through small expenditure 
by patient waiting for the growth of trees whose fruit look among 
their foilage like lumps of solid gold — which some erroneously 
imagine they represent more fully the further south they go. 

During this vast influx of wealth, enterprise and new ideas, 
Alachua county, owing chiefly to her many advantages not pos- 
sessed by other counties, together with her capabilities to grow 
oranges equally as well and as profitably as any county in the State, 
has had a steady, persistent, and healthy growth, out-numbering all 
her sister counties, excepting Duval, of which the city of Jacksonville 
is the county seat. This growth, added to Alachua's previous pop- 
ulation, ranks her next to Duval, the largest county in the State. 
Situated mid- way between the Atlantic ocean and the Gulf of 
Mexico, the wind currents from these opposite seas temper the heat 
of day in the most refreshing manner, even in mid-summer, while 
the nights are, without doubt, the most delightful in the world. 

Many people at the North desire to know if it is safe to visit 
Florida at any other season than winter. To the writer, the most 
enjoyable part of the year in Florida is the summer months. Many 
of the northern people who have settled in Alachua county freely 
declare that they prefer the summers here to the winters. The fre- 
quent cool breezes so temper the atmosphere through the day that 
there is seldom, during the hottest season, more than an hour or 
two when the heat is severely felt, and even then it is not so in- 
tense or so oppressive as the writer has experienced it in New 
York and Boston. The nights are so perfectly delightful, beginning 
as soon as the sun goes down, that one can willingly submit to an 
hour or two of heat in order to enjoy the remaining hours under such 
delightful atmospheric influences, and when sleep is a perfect feast 
to the soul. There is no particular time of day when the hottest 
period may be predicted for a certainty. Sometimes the morning 
will be quite warm, and a "scorcher" predicted, and, yet, in less 
than an hour, a cool, refreshing breeze may spring up and the re- 
mainder of the day be most delightful. It is always cool in the 
shade, no matter how insignificant that shade may be. 

Many people, too, desire to know about the healthfulness of 
Florida, in the summer season. The writer believes the State of 
Florida, even in the summer, to be as healthy as any State in the 
Union, and Alachua county is freely admitted to be the most healthy 
county in the State. Portions of it, nlore especially in and about 



THE OLDEST SETTLEMENTS. 13 

Gainesville and the lake region, are as healthy as any part of the 
United States. Fatal bilious fever is rare, except under great ex- 
posure to the malaria of low hummocks, rains, etc. Chills and fever 
are more frequent, but are of the mildest and most easily managed 
types. Physicians all testify that diseases are less stubborn and 
less liable to terminate in death than the same kind of diseases in 
higher latitudes. For a territory of about 1,400 square miles, the 
death rate is exceedingly small. The pine lands of Alachua county, 
which are universally healthy, &re nearly everywhere studded at 
intervals of a mile or two with rich hummock land varying in ex- 
tent from twenty to forty thousand acres. Residences only half a 
mile from cultivated hummocks in any part of Florida are notably 
free from malarial diseases, while residences on even the high hum- 
mock lands in Alachua county are generally found to be healthy. 

The oldest settlements and the densest population of Alachua are 
found in the eastern half of the county. This was a favorite part of 
the State with the Indians and also with the Spaniards when they 
held possession of it. It includes the well-known " Arredonda 
grant," declared to be the richest body of land in the entire Slate. 
Gainesville, Arredonda, Micanopy. Palmer, Fairbanks, Yulee, 
Gruelle, and Tarver are located on the Arredonda grant, while just 
outside of it are Waldo, Newnansville, Archer, Hawthorne, Mel- 
rose, Campville, Magnesia Springs, Saludia and Lockloosa. The 
lands all about this section, for natural fertility and durability, are 
inferior to none in Florida. The railroads connect with all of the 
above places, and in and about them large and small bodies of select 
lands are for sale by various companies and by the Government at 
prices ranging from $1 to $100 an acre. Individual property in well- 
selected locations and generally improved, is held at the highest 
value. 

The other towns and settlements in the couutj'^ not mentioned 
above are La Crosse, Gordon, Frankland, Trenton, Jonesville, Wa- 
casassee. Fort Fanning, Sugar Grove, Joella, Suwanee and Fort Har- 
ley. Lands about these places are not largely taken up. They are 
excellent for both vegetable and orange culture. 

The population of Alachua county at the late census (1880) was 
18,697. During the past two years in general with all parts of Flo- 
rida there has been a healthy and steady increase. The population 
at the present time (1883), cannot be far from 20,000. This increase 
has been of white people from the more northern States. The 
colored people have heretofore held the majority in Alachua county, 
which fact is fast becoming a matter of the past, but it is of no par- 



14 ALACHUA COUNTY. 

ticular advantage to either political party, as the colored people are 
daily becoming more intelligent, and, learning to think for them- 
selves; they are fast assimilating with both parties. The colored 
people prevail most largely in the county outside the towns and 
trading centres. For the most part they are law-abiding, industri- 
ous and prosperous, some of them having acquired great affluence, 
and no great social evils have grown out of their proportionate num- 
bers. 

The white people of Alachua represent every State in the Union 
from Maine to California, and are in their moral intellectual status 
of the advanced classes from the old States. Intelligence predomi- 
nates in all the essential avenues of business, and in the principal 
occupations of life. The colored people have caught the spirit of 
advanced enlightenment and enterprise which prevails, and show 
remarkable traits of character, keep up their churches and are good 
citizens. There are to a slight degree distinct classes of society, the 
same as found elsewhere, but there is no ostracism of settlers from 
other places, as the county is now largely composed of people who, 
within the past twenty years, have themselves settled here from 
other States. The future growth and prosperity depends upon an 
increase of such settlers who bring, with new ideas, a new spirit 
of improvement and increased wealth. All worthy new-comers 
are heartily welcomed and will meet with well-wishes on every 
hand. The only division of the people is political, the same as 
elsewhere, but the same candid expression of thought and the 
same freedom of rational si^eech is allowable here as in New Eng- 
land. 

Previous to the introduction of the Free School system in 1868, the 
enjoyment of educational privileges were vouchsafed only to the 
rich. There are now in the county nearly 75 public scliools with an 
average attendance of over 2,250. There are more than this number 
of white children of school age in the county, and more than twice 
that number of colored children. That there are many who do not 
accept the privilege is conclusive, but the system is in its infancy, 
and there are numerous private schools which draw pupils largely 
from those who are able to pay for private teachers. As the advan- 
tages secured throughout the public schools are more generally 
realized, they will, as elsewhere, absorb the private schools, and 
will become the pride of the whole body of the people. Experi- 
enced and skillful teachers are all that is wanted to make them equal 
to those in any State. Separate schools for the white and colored 
children are universally established. In no cases are the children 



ITS GENERAL ATTRACTIONS. JjS; 

of the white and colored races in attendance at the same schools. 
The East Florida Seminary, a State institution, is located in this 
county, at Gainesville, and is one of the most important factors in 
the educational interests of Florida. It is more fully spoken of 
elsewhere in this work. 

There are in Alachua county, like all places of mixed people, 
representatives of nearly every sect in the Christian religion, and in 
the larger places a goodly sprinkling of Jews. The churches, how- 
ever, are principally Baptist, Episcopalians, Methodivsts and Presby- 
terians, all of which are well supported and presided over by able 
preachers. 

The houses and the mode of living in the larger part of Florida 
appear strange and of a primitive nature to the minds of a new- 
comer whose days have been spent among the tinselled scenes of 
metropolitan life in the North, and where the greatest enjoyment of 
the majority of the people consists of walking brick pavements and 
admiring huge buildings which are owned by other people. Florida 
life-scenes and ways soon become familiar, and their simplicity is 
charming. Houses built in the simplest manner are the most com- 
fortable ; scant furniture is a luxury and the plainest walls and 
floors are the most agreeable and inspiring. Stylish clothes are 
burdensome and largely ignored, while the mind and body seeks 
abandonment in ease and natural comforts. The life of the great 
body of people in Florida is a sort of pioneer life, spent among 
Nature's scenes in the most delightful climate upon the face of the 
earth. 

The further one gets from the transportation connections with the 
great national marts, the less likely are the conveniences and the 
invented comforts of business and social life to be found. Necessity, 
however, is the mother of invention, and necessity in Florida has 
caused the invention of many conveniences and comforts of which 
the people further north are ignorant. Her climate and her wonder- 
ful resources have rendered her in a measure capable of providing 
for herself independent of the rest of the world. In the western 
part of Alachua county may be found people as independent of the 
world, outside of their own neighborhood, as it is possible for 
human beings to be. They raise their own food, make their own 
clothes from products raised by theii-own labor, and think, talk and 
act as they please in accordance with their own tvell-regulated social 
laws. Some of these people look with disfavor upon the building of 
new railroads through their localities, because of their occasional 
killing of a hog that unfortunately stops upon the track too long. 



16 ALACHUA COUNTY. 

Railroads, nevertheless, are being constructed through every section 
of the county, in penetrating the southern parts of the State ; so 
that with means of transportation and travel, Alachua county is 
the most highly-favored county in the State. 

ALACHUA'S NATURAL CURIOSITIES. 

Alachua county can boast of some of the finest lakes in the State. 
The principal ones are Alachua, Newnan's, Orange, Santa Fe, Alto, 
Levy's and Lockloosa. There are but two rivers in the county, 
the Suwanee and the Santa Fe. The former constitutes its western 
boundary, the latter the northern boundary. The Santa Fe is 
navigable only about thirty miles from its junction with the 
Suwanee, while the latter is navigable for steamers to Cedar Keys 
and the Gulf. 

Springs, sinks, natural wells, and an immense natural bridge are 
among the leading physical peculiarities of the county. The springs 
are mostly mineral springs. Some of them are impregnated with 
iron, others with sulphur and magnesia. There are also deep blue 
springs and springs of transparent soft water. The largest sulphur 
springs are the Worthington, situated north of Newnansville on 
either side of the Santa Fe River. The two largest of these springs 
throw up jets from a long distance beneath the river's bed that 
makes the basins boil like huge pots over a hot fire. These 
springs are considered beneficial for people suffering with rheuma- 
tism, and are favorite resorts in summer. Magnesia spring, near 
Hawthorne, has been found to possess a curative property in diseases 
of the kidneys. An analysis of the water of the spring shows prin- 
cipally sulphate of magnesia and iron with a strong trace of lithia. 
Persons who have resorted to it have been healed of diabetes, stone 
and other complaints, and one gentleman, it is said, has been recently 
cured of Bright's disease of the kidneys, a disorder heretofore con- 
sidered incurable. It is also said to be a cure for dyspepsia. 

One of the great peculiarities of Alachua county, and a natural 
wonder, is that large streams are suddenly lost in the gullet of a 
big hole in the ground, popularly termed a "sink;" while others 
as abruptly put in an appearance from deep recesses, going and 
coming from nobody knows where, but leading to the belief that 
underneath the ground there are innumerable springs, streams and 
mighty rivers flowing as perfectly and as regularly as those upon 
the surface. Two lakes in the county, Alachua lake and Lake Tus- 
cawilla, are known to have been created by the clogging of such 
sinks. About five miles north-west of Gainesville is what is known 



NATURAL CURIOSITIES. 



17 




THE LARGEST ORANGE TREE IN FLORIDA. 



as the "Devil's Hopper" or "Washpot." It is a physical phe- 
nomena of like nature as the sinks, but with more wonders. It is 
formed like a deep washbowl and is at all times filled with water 
at a certain height, which neither lowers nor increases, notwith- 
standing the fact that some twenty streams are pouring their con- 



18 ALACHUA COUNTY. 

tents into it continuously. Another strange feature in this great 
wonder is, that these streams pour out of the sides of the earth at 
various heights above the water's level, coming from no one knows 
where, as there is no sign of a stream anywhere upon the surface 
for miles around. The Devil's Hopper is a great resort for visiting 
strangers, who are taken thither by carriages, which may be secured 
in Gainesville at a reasonable price at the livery stable of Hon. J. B. 
Dell, opposite the Arlington House. The natural cave is another 
wonder in the same vicinity. 

The natural wells of Alachua county are also great wonders. 
They are most frequently found in the western part of the county, 
though there is one in the very centre of Archer, from which the 
inhabitants draw their water supply. These wells are as round and 
as perpendicular as if they had been cut through the rock by the 
hand of man. The most of them contain water, but some of them 
are dry. In diameter they are about two and a half feet, and are 
from thirty to forty feet deep. The walls are of solid limestone. 
The water in them contains lime, and in summer is quite cool. The 
dry wells are perfectly safe to enter. In one, at least, parties can 
go down in it a distance of thirty feet, and then through an under- 
ground passage can come up out of another one a mile away. Near 
Santa Fe lake, a river springs directly up from the earth, and only 
a few hundred feet from where it first makes its appearance the 
water flows swiftly enough to turn a mill. These numerous sinks, 
springs and wells are among the greatest of Florida's natural curiosi- 
ties, and yet there are but few of the visitors to Florida who even 
know of their existence, and fewer still who ever see them, because 
of their location in Alachua county, which has made no great boast 
in the past of her many attractions. Like the original Garden of 
Eden, Alachua, with her numerous lakes, streams, sinks and wells, 
may truly be said to be well watered. 

Across the Santa Fe river, about nine miles north-west of New- 
nansville, is a natural bridge, formed by the sudden whirl of the 
water into a capacious cavern, from whence it breaks out again to 
the surface about two and a half miles below, the covering of earth 
and rock above it being termed the great Natural Bridge. The 
river is about two hundred feet wide where the water disappears. 

The great ship canal which is to be built during the next two years 
across the peninsula, from the Atlantic ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, 
will, it is thought, be pushed through Alachua county. This canal, 
according to the estimate of Gen. Stone, of Egyptian fame, will cost 
to be built about $40,000,000. If it penetrates Alachua county it 



THE GREAT LAKES. 



19 



will open up this entire stretch of country, making it the most valu- 
able in the Southern States. 

The principal lakes of Alachua county are all in the eastern and 
southeastern part. These lakes form the larger portion of what is 
known among travelers as the lake region of Florida. This region 
averages an altitude of about 150 feet above the level of the sea,. So 
desirable and attractive is this section of the country that its popu- 
lation has most wonderfully increased within the past ten years. 
The lakes abound in fine fish and furnish admirable opportunities for 
pleasure excursions. 

The celebrated Alachua lake, sometimes termed Payne's prairie, 
is the largest. It lies directly south of Gainesville about two miles. 
It is nearly nine miles long by four miles wide. Its borders are lined 
with some of the most extensive and most profitable vegetable farms 
and orange groves in the whole State. The celebrated 1,000 acres, 
owned and cultivated by the Hon. J. T. Wall, ex-U. S. Congressman 
and the richest and ablest colored man in the State, are situated at 
the extreme eastern end of the lake. 

The noted Orange Point grove, owned by H. F. Button & Co. and 
L. A. Barnes of Gainsville, are situated further to the north. In 
this vicinity, at Rocky Point, Bevin's Arm and at the Sink, numer- 
ous other Gainesville citizens own extensive and valuable possessions 
in the shape of A^egetable farms, orange groves or fine virgin hum- 
mock lands. Among the owners might be named L. A. Barnes, L. 
K. Rawlins, P. F. Wilson, Phillip Miller, H. C. Denton, J. A. Car- 
hsle, W. C. Mowry, M. Fitch Miller, G. W. Holden, J. H. Roper, Dr. 
J. D. Cromwell, Crawford Brothers, J. Simonson, P. H. Young, Ed- 
ward Howell, W. H. Bracy, Roth Reynolds, G. D. Younglove & Son, 
O. D. Morris, J. D. Avera, J. E. Dodd, W. C. Sunderland, W. S. 
Land, W. A. & C. A. Colclough, Mrs. J. C. Veeder, Lawrence Jackson, 
Dr. P. G. Snowden, P. M. Oliver, T. O. Shackelford, J. B. Mixon, Geo. 
H. Rich, T. B. & R. Stringfellow, and others. Fish are exceedingly 
plentiful in Alachua lake. Trout are caught weighing 25 lbs. , black 
bass weighing 15 lbs. , while among the other species are the silver- 
fish, the brim-fish, warmouth, cat-fish, jack-fish and hickory 
shad. 

Eight years ago what is now known as Alachua lake was a large 
and beautiful prairie known as Payne's prairie. It took its name 
from King Payne, an old Seminole chief of the early days. This 
prairie was the great grazing ground for the Indians' cattle, and in 
later years was devoted to a like purpose and for tillage by the 
whites. In those days thousands of cattle and sheep could be seen 



to NATURAL (;URIOSITiEi>. 

at any time enjoying the richness which mother earth here supplied, 
The overflow of Newnan's lake, which lies to the north of it, formed 
a stream which wended its way through the prairie and emptied it- 
self into one of the largest of those characteristic curiosities here- 
about, which has been described as a sink. Thence the waters found 
its waj^ into some subterraneous passage whose mystery has not as 
yet been solved. 

A few years ago this sink became clogged and the waters were 
forced to remain upon the surface. It overflowed the prairie, cover- 
ing roads, cultivated fields, grazing grounds and homesteads, cre- 
ating an additional lake in the county, which is now one of its 
natural curiosities. The locality where the waters became CiOgged 
is still known as the Sink, and it is one of the most romantic picnic 
grounds and pleasure resorts in the State, situated about four miles 
south of Gainesville on the line of the Florida Southern Railroad. 
About this prairie and among the lakes in this region was the 
Indians' favorite hunting and fishing grounds. On either side, about 
equi-distance from the prairie, at what are now known as Micanopy 
and Newnansville, was an Indian settlement. The site of the home 
of old King Payne is situated at the fork of two roads leading to 
Micanopy, about a mile and a quarter east from Wauberg lake. 
Here, too, old Micanopy, an old noted Indian chief, and the noble 
young half-breed chief, Osceola (Powell), revelled in their palmy days 
in all their native pride and glory. 

The sink at Paj^ie's prairie was called by the Indians "Alachua," 
meaning a "big jug," into which the waters continually flowed with- 
out filling it. Hence the name of the county. Alachua, by the Indians, 
was pronounced Ala-ciie-ah, a much softer pronounciation than the 
present Ah-loch-u-a. 

Soon after the flooding of Payne's prairie, an effort was made to 
drain it by a canal, which was projected, leading from the prairie 
creek south of Newnan's lake into the northern portion of Orange 
lake, six miles further south. The legislature of the State, however, 
passed an act making the waters of Alachua lake navigable, and 
the canal project was abandoned. A line of steamers, for freight 
purposes principally, now navigate these waters, owned and operated 
by the Alachua Steam Navigation and Canal Company. This com- 
pany are preparing to build wharves and warehouses at eligible 
points around the lake. They connect with the Transit Railroad at 
Bevin's Arm and with the Florida Southern Railroad at the Sink. 
A canal which they have built connects with Wauberg lake, a small 
body of water south of the southeastern corner, which is surrounded 



THE SMALLER LAKES. 21 

by numerous very large ponds. This company have had a small 
steam yacht, the "Geo. W. Harris," the steamer " Chacala," and 
two barges at %vork during the past vegetable season, and have just 
completed a new steamer, 66 feet long and supplied with engines, 
which will be ready for the coming orange season. The acreages of 
both vegetables and oranges about these lakes is fast increasing, by 
reason of transportation facilities afforded by this company, the officers 
of which are, Andrew Howard, Pittsburgh, Pa., President; W. D. Phil- 
lips, M.D., Vice-President; J. T. McMillan. Treasurer; B. F. Jordan, 
Secretary — the last three gentlemen of Gainesville. It is designed 
by this company to clear the passage connecting Newnan's and 
Alachua lakes, which can be done at a small expense, when they 
will be able to navigate both lakes, making a complete course of 
nearly fifteen miles. In the opinion of the writer the time is not far 
distant when a four-mile canal Avill be constructed to Orange lake, 
and Orange creek dredged from Orange lake to Ocklawaha rivei-, 
thus furnishing a fine excursion route from Newnan's lake and from 
the Sink to the St. Johns river. The boats would likewise serve as 
feeders of vegetable and fruit freight to the various railroads along 
the line. Gainesville, thus by growth towards the lake, would have 
a water front communicating with the St. Johns steamers. 

Quite a settlement of northern people is located about the border 
of the pretty little Wauberg lake, and a number of Gainesville peo- 
ple own good tracts of land there. Among them are W. C. Miller 
(the Leitner place), R, M. Witt and the officers of the Navigation 
Company. 

Levy's lake, south of Alachua, and Ledwith's, south of Levy's, will 
soon be connected with the Alachua, so that the course of the com- 
pany's boats will be extended further south a distance of five miles, 
to the southern boundary of the county, opening up thousands of 
acres of new agricultural lands. Levy's Lake is about five miles long 
by three wide, and Ledwith's is about two and a half miles long by 
one and a half wide. 

Tuscawilla lake, about a mile wide in either direction, is situated 
about three and a half miles east of Ledwith's, its southern border 
extending very nearly to the southern border line of the county. 
This lake bears the name of the wife of the Indian chief Micanopy, 
the town of Micanopy being located upon its northwestern border. 
Like Alachua lake, Tuscawilla lake was created by the clogging of 
a sink, with the following difference: 

The sink was small, so that in rainy weather a lake was created 
which would gradually disappear in a dry season. Desiring to pre- 



22 • NATURAL CURIOSITIES. 

vent a temporary clogging of this sink, the owner of the property 
some years ago endeavored to open the cavern and keep it open by 
log barriers. During the operation his logs caved in and the sink be- 
came permanently clogged, and the lake consequently permanently 
located. 

About two miles east of Tuscawilla lake is the northern arm of 
Orange lake, about one-and-a-half miles wide at this point. Only 
about three miles of this lake is in Alachua county, but on either 
side it is bordered with rich hummock lands and the finest orange 
groves in the country. 

Lake Lockloosa, about four miles at its widest point, is situated 
just northeast of Orange lake, with which it is connected by a deep 
navigable stream about one mile in length. The same steamers oper- 
ate on both these lakes, engaged in the carrying trade connecting 
with the railroads at several different points. Large quantities of 
oranges from Micanopy and elsewhere are annually shipped from 
these lakes to all parts of the country. 

Santa Fe lake is a most delightful body of water, and can boast of 
some of the finest residences upon its borders, as well as many mag- 
nificent orange groves. It is about nine miles long and four miles 
wide at its widest points. A steamboat canal has been built from 
this lake to the enterprising town of Waldo, passing through the 
beautiful Lake Alto and forming transportation connection with the 
Transit Railroad. Lake Alto is about a mile east of Waldo. It is 
about one-and-a-half miles long by one wide. Santa Fe and Alto 
lakes are the highest bodies of water in the county. Situated upon 
the high ridge or back of the peninsula, they have outlets extending 
both east and west to the Atlantic ocean and to the Gulf. 

The Santa Fe Canal Company has the town of Waldo as its base 
of operations. It operates one steamer, the " F. S. Lewis," which 
was built at Waldo in 1881, for use on the canal and connected lakes 
(Alto and Santa Fe), between Waldo and Melrose. She is nearly 100 
feet long by 20 wide, and has room for 200 passengers on excursions. 
The route accommodates a section of country which, for its adapta- 
bility for orange culture and vegetable production, is excellent. It 
brings within access of market over 100,000 acres of first-class farm- 
ing and orange lands, in one of the most healthy and desirable 
sections, among rolling hills and hundreds of beautiful clear water 
lakes. The canal was built about a year or two ago. The officers of 
this company are Geo. C. Rixford, president ; H. Binder, vice-presi- 
dent ; W. H. Stager, secretary and treasurer ; Ned. E. Farrell, 
engineer and superintendent. 



EARLY VEGETABLES. 28 

Newnan's lake, five miles east of Gainesville, and between Santa 
Fe and Alachua lakes, is one of the prettiest bodies of water in the 
State. It is destined in a few years to be a most popular water re- 
sort, to which horse-cars will be run from the Gainesville hotels, 
and from the Hygienic hotel and sanatoriums of New GainesWlle. 
Newnan's lake is about six miles long by two-and-a-half miles wide, 
has a good, sandy beach, and is surrounded with delightful hum- 
mock lands and groves. Between and about these lakes, already de- 
scribed, are situated innumerable small lakes and ponds, among 
which northern, western and foreign emigrants love to settle. 

All of the lakes of Alachua county are of very attractive appearance, 
and about them are growing large orange groves, while thousands 
of trees continue to be set out yearly, and vegetable farms flourish 
most wonderfully. 

ALACHUA COUNTY PRODUCTS. 

All along the lines of the railroads, where they run through the 
lake and orange-belt region, hundreds of settlers are engaged in 
raising all kinds of vegetables for the Northern markets. Thousands 
of crates of green-peas, tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, onions, cab- 
bages, cauliflower, spinach, celery, lettuce, beets, etc., and car-loads 
of watermelons and strawberries are gathered and shipped to all 
points North in January, February, March and April, bringing 
really fabulous prices. 

Vegetable raising is an industry which in Alachua county has 
grown to wonderful proportions within a few^ years, paying large 
profits of several hundreds of dollars per acre for crops that fortu- 
nately ripen and reach the markets at the right moment. This por- 
tion of the State will undoubtedly produce the greatest variety of 
marketable and profitable crops of any region in the county, and 
yet a large portion of the visitors to the State go up and down the 
St. Johns river without dreaming of the productiveness of this re- 
gion, and, like Oscar Turner, go back home without having seen it, 
and declare, unwarrantably, that " Florida's sandy soil is too poor 
to raise even a disturbance on it." 

The leading vegetable products of Alachua for the year round 
come in in about the following order: Cabbages very early in the 
spring, then beans, then cucumbers, then tomatoes, then corn, then 
long cotton, to say nothing of oats and the multitudinous other pro- 
ducts of the earth. In fruits the strawberries come first early in 
February and often in January, then the Japan plum, then the com- 
mon plum, followed by blackberries, peaches, nectarines, figs, 



34 



A.LACHUA PRODUCTS. 



grapes and pears in their order before the first of July. Then comes 
the Japanese persimmon, the quince, etc. , ending with the orange, 
banana, grape fruit, etc., all of which furnish fruits and vegetables 
for the table the year round. Alachua county is embraced within 
the orange belt, and furnishes the greatest proof, by the big orange' 
tree at Fort Harley (a cut of which is given on page 17), of being 
the greatest natural orange region in the State. Thus the de- 
lightful occupation of raising orange groves in a healthy country 
is a rare inducement for settlers to seek its many advantages. 




THE TRANSPORTATION BOAT ON LAKE SANTA FE. 

Orange trees bear all the way from 1,000 to 10,000 oranges annually. 
Of garden truck, Judge Cessna, of Gainesville, gives the following 
as a fair average crop per acre from Alachua county soil. 

Tomatoes and cucumbers, 200 bushels; snap-beans, 100 bushels; 
Irish potatoes, from 50 to 75 bushels; English peas, from 75 to 100 
bushels; cabbage, from 50 to 100 barrels; bush-squash, 100 barrels, 
and often 200 barrels; Boston marrow-squash, from 50 to 100 barrels, 
and often 150 barrels; melons, from 500 to 1,000; strawberries, 2,000 
quarts easy, and often 4,000 quarts. Of strawberries, the Judge 



THE FROST QUESTION DISCUSSED. 35 

says he has picked 114 quarts from less than half an acre at one 
picking, and the vines picked every other day. Further on in this 
work we show what is done on some of the representative farms 
and in orange groves and nurseries. A good idea of what may be 
accomplished in Florida may there be gleaned. 

People from the North often ask if a frost may not some time 
come and destroy the business of orange culture. Certainly, it 
may, and so may the waters of the Atlantic ocean some day rise 
and sweep Nevv' England from the face of the earth. Danger to life 
and property all over the world is possible at any time from scourge, 
pestilences or the ravages of the elements. The frost danger to tropical 
and semi-tropical fruits, however, is on a par with the frost danger 
to vegetables and fruit in the North, only, if anything, much less so. 
No one at the North would hesitate in the buying of a farm, or of 
planting fruit-trees adapted to that climate through fear that some 
very severe winter might destroy the next year's crop. There is 
the remote contingency that a severe frost might damage the crop 
once or twice in a century, but how many times in the last twenty- 
five years have the wheat crop and the apple and peach crops in the 
North been seriously damaged. Everj^thing upon the face of the 
earth has its enemy, but on this account we do not hear of the 
business of raising wheat and fruit in the North being ruined or 
abandoned. There is no doubt of the fact that orange culture here 
in the " orange belt " of Florida is one of the substantial industries 
of the "vvorld, and those who engage in it soonest will take the lead 
and hold it, as the older the trees, when properly cared for, the 
greater is their bearing capacity. 

That many of the leading financiers of North America, success- 
ful merchants, bankers, and railroad owners, are notably forw^ard in 
making investments in this State, is a fact that should not be over- 
looked. It may turn out that these experienced business men have 
some financial foresight. Concerning some of the conflicting 
reports on Florida, one fact should be taken into serious considera- 
tion. Florida is to-day to a large degree a land-operating State. 
Land is the marketable stock, and in this market, as in the markets 
of Wall street. New York, there are the "bulls "and the "bears." 
Those who have lands to sell desire to ' ' bull " the price of it up, and 
those who desire to buy do what they can to " bear" the price of it 
down. Supply and demand, either real or imaginary, controls the 
prices of Florida lands the same as the prices of everything else is 
controlled. The real healthy growth of Florida will depend upon 
the immigration to her shores of men of moderate means, skill and 



26 ALACHUA PRODUCTS. 

energy, who will be contented with the purchase of ten, twenty and 
forty-acre farms and groves, and, locating upon them, pay strict 
attention to the cultivation of the same. To such men Alachua 
county offers good homes the year round, an assured livelihood and 
possibly a fortune. The great mistake which many make is in 
buying more land than they can properly cultivate or handle. 
Large vegetable farms are risky property, and immense orange 
groves owned by parties who make their homes out of the State are 
not conducive to the growth of the population or to the financial 
growth of the State. An increased population is what adds power 
and influence and financial strength, and these facts should be 
properly considered by every new-comer lo Florida, who should like- 
wise remember that no man in this country can be more than one 
of fifty million, and every additional one tends to create a necessity 
and a demand for better conveniences and stimulates a desire for 
greater worldly comforts, and by competition cheapens them as 
well to the advantage of the whole. 

The importance of market gardening to the State of Florida is al- 
most incalculable. It was first started but a few years ago as an 
experiment, but is fast becoming a leading industry. Orange groves 
may be planted on the same land with vegetables, thus securing for 
the man of small means a future period of independence and enjoy- 
ment while present needs are being provided for. It is an industry 
that should be in every way encouraged, as it is attracting to the 
State a class of immigrants whose intelligence and industry is 
rapidly converting the great wilderness heretofore existmg into 
most valuable estates, adding greatly to the growth, prosperity and 
power of the State. 

A perfect net-work of railroads is covering the State, and steam- 
boats are ploughing new waters, seeking freight and traffic from 
every locality. Reasonable freights, refrigerators, well-ventilated 
cars and compartments furnished by railroads and steamboat com- 
panies, will soon place Florida in advance of Bermuda, the West In- 
dies, and the Bahama Islands in supplying our great country with 
early vegetables. 

In buying new lands the first thing to be done is to clear it of its 
natural growth. Hummock land can be cleared and made ready for 
planting at from |25 to |3o an acre. Many get ready at a less price 
by merely clearing the underbrush and girdling the trees, allowing 
them to die where they stand, and it is not a rare sight to see vege- 
tables flourishing in fields filled with towering dead -tree trunks, look- 
ing like a forest of naked masts. This latter method is not advisable 



A LIST OF THEM. 27 

where groves are to be planted. Pine lands may be cleared most 
easily and with the least expense by digging down to and chopping 
off the roots of the tree and causing it to fall. This method gets rid 
of all stumps at once, and makes land that yields most abundantly. 
Some settlers, with lands which they are in no great hurry to clear, 
operate by the above method, except that they only chop off the 
lateral roots of the tree, leaving the tree to fall and tear up the tap 
root by the force of the wind, which invariably does its work in the 
course of a few days. By this method the trees may be gradually 
removed at one's leisure. The land in Alachua county is of such a 
mellow nature that it is seldom uecessary to subsoil. Lands requir- 
ing fertilizers are very suscei3tible to them, and are easily wrought 
up to a high degree of richness. The pine lands are often benefited 
by them, and yet no great amount of fancy fertilizers are used by 
the farmers here, except in extensive vegetable growing. Still it is 
a well-known fact that whether in the North, South, East or West, 
the lands where fertilizers are most judiciously used are the most pro- 
ductive. The same care given to land in Florida that is given to 
land in New England will produce far better results and at a less 
expense, as it is more easily tilled and labor is less expensive. 

The following are among the many fruits and vegetables that 
are successfully cultivated and grown in the Eden of the South: 
Oranges, pomegranates, grape fruit, bananas, lemons, peaches, ap- 
ples (rare), Le Conte pears, figs, grapes, guava, blueberries, black- 
berries, huckleberries, strawberries, rice, arrowroot, cassava, coon- 
tie and other starch plants, Irish potatoes, sweet-potatoes, tanyas, 
cucumbers, egg-plant, cabbages, onions, pumpkins, squashes, turnips, 
okras, tomatoes, cushaws, melons, radishes, parsnips, peppers, cot- 
ton, tobacco, sugar-cane, field-peas, gubers, chufas, peanuts, walnuts, 
pecan-nuts, grasses of various kinds for hay, millets, beggar-louse 
weed (a substitute for clover which will not grow here), oats, rye and 
Indian corn. At the Atlanta Exposition in 1881 Florida took the first 
premium for upland rice, the greater part of which was raised in 
Alachua county. 

Vegetable growing, here as elsewhere, requires great care, and in 
packing and shipping the exercise of good judgment, in order to have 
the products reach the markets at the earliest possible moment and 
in good condition, when they then bring the very highest prices. 
Cotton with the native farmers is the main staple of the county, but 
the new settlers turn their attention to the edible vegetable produc- 
tions with greater and most wonderful success. Sugar and syrup is 
largely made for home consumption. Very little is exported, but 



28 ALACHUA PRODUCTS. 

the time is not far distant when sugar-houses will be established 
here, when, with the most improved machinery, all classes of com- 
mercial sugars will be made for export. Cotton factories are found 
to be most successful when operated where the raw material grows, 
and it will not be long before their hum will be heard all over the 
Eden of the South, as they are now heard at Gainesville. The 
cotton grown in this county is of the Sea Island or long staple 
variety, and has no superior. 

Alachua county is not "below" that mythical "frost line," a 
belief in which is nearly exploded ; therefore truck farmers and 
orange growers do. at times, have to contend with frosts. Proper 
attention and care, however, easily averts such rare danger. Some 
of the largest and most successful oiange groves in the State are 
in Alachua, and the oldest and the largest tree is in the extreme 
northeastern part of the county. A nrmber of wild sour groves, 
which are most hardy, have been transformed, by budding, into the 
sweetest of fruit, while the many j^oung seedling groves, coming 
into high bearing all over the county, attest their power to with- 
stand severe frosts like those of the past year or two. Judge 
Cessna, with others, from extensive observation is satisfied that the 
cold, so much talked of and feared, is beneficial than otherwise to 
orange groves. The cold is sure death to the insects that ravage the 
trees, and while it causes the trees to throw off their leaves, the fruit 
is much better for it the following spring. A terribly severe winter, 
like those of 1835 and '69, is, of course, an exception. 

ALACHUA COUNTY LANDS. 

The whole State of Florida lies upon a vast bed of coral, raised in 
the sea and covered with a stratum of sand, largely mingled with 
pulverized or decomposed coral and sea-shells. Beds of drift and 
coral rock and petrified wood and bones are found in various parts 
of Alachua county, as is also a sandstone used in some cases as a 
substitute for brick and in others as a fertilizer. It contains a large 
per cent, of phosphoric acid, and when pulverized makes excellent 
food for fruit and vegetable growth. Blue, yellow, red and white 
clays are found near the surface in many parts of the county; also 
green and white marls and chalk. That there is gold beneath the 
surface of the middle portion of Alachua is no matter of speculation 
or of doubt. In sinking artesian wells in the public square and at 
Col. H. F. Button's home in the centre of Gainesville, rich gold-bear- 
ing quartz were brought up on the drill from a depth of 176 and 190 
feet. The first knowledge given to the world that gold was to be 



GOLD BENEA.TH THE SOIL. W 

found in Florida was in 1516, when Diego Miruelo visited the Gulf 
coast section and obtained pieces of gold from the Indians. Rock 
containing iron ore is found near the Suwanee river. At Arredonda 
and at Magnesia springs there are large and remarkable deposits of 
phospliate rock which will, no doubt, be placed upon the market as 
a fertilizer for orange and other trees. It has been analyzed and 
surveyed, and there are millions of tons of it, enough to last for a 
period of 200 years. 

The area of Alachua county embraces about 80(5,400 acres, or 1,206 
square miles. Of this nearly 40,000 acres are improved, and there 




ALACHUA SINK— "big JUG "—NEAR GAINESVltXE. 

are about 2,078 acres of school land unsold, which, with the lands for 
sale by railroads and other companies, offer ample inducements to 
those who are seeking homes or safe investments. The lands are 
divided into six classes, as follows : First, second and third-class 
pine lands, high and low hummock lands and swamp lands. The 
fertility and durability of even third-class pine lands has been amply 
proven, and in our chapter on Waldo we even show that pine 
swampy land is not without great value. That which appears to 
consist of a white sand soil on third-class pine land^is not all sand 



30 ALACHUA LANDS. 

which is seen by the eye. There is a mixture of finely comminuted 
bits of shells, or carbonate of lime, which furnishes the plants of such 
region with potash, one of the most important elements of plant 
food. All second-class pine lands are productive. Underlying 
the surface is clay, marl, lime, rock and sand. These lands are 
easily accessible, productive, cheaply fertilized by cattle, and, by 
reason of their supposed healthfulness above Immmock lands, are 
most readily settled upon. The fertility of first-class pine lands is 
indeed wonderful, while the limit of their durability is still un- 
known. The surface for several inches is covered with a dark vege- 
table mold, beneath which to the depth of several feet is a chocolate 
sand loam, mixed for the most part with limestone pebbles, and 
resting on a sub-stratum of marl, clay or limestone. The hummock 
lands are the most productive. Both the high and the low hum- 
mocks are generally admixed with lime, and the streams running 
through them are impregnated with it more or less. High hum- 
mocks do not require ditching or draining. Low hummocks gener- 
ally require ditching to relieve them of a superabundance of water, 
especially during the rainy season. They have a deeper soil and 
are generally regarded as more lasting than high hummocks. Low 
hummocks are especially fitted for the growth of sugar-cane, as is 
also the swamp lands, which are held to be the most durably rich 
lands in Florida. In Alachua county hummock lands predominate, 
more especially in the belt of land running through the centre of 
the county from the northwest to the southeastern portion. This 
belt includes the notable and most beautiful San Felusco hummock, 
a drive through which, from Gainesville to Newnansville, is one of 
the most romantic woodland drives that can be conceived of. The 
open hummock lands are hilly and pebbly, the soil is a dark loam 
underlaid with a chocolate-colored fiiable clay. On the high mixed 
pine and hummock lands most of the oldest, largest, and most pro- 
ductive plantations are situated, although some of the old planters 
preferred the first-class pine lands for general cropping, using for 
fertilizers cotton-seed and pea-vines, by which means annual pro- 
ducts were greatly increased. Every section of Alachua county, as 
before remarked, is well watered, except a small portion lying be- 
tween Newnansville and Cow creek. 

It is a difficult matter for some to understand how land is divided 
up and designated under Government surveys. It is the old Roman 
method, which, under our Government, has developed into the most 
perfect system of land partition which has ever been devised. The 
system consists in dividing the land into equal squares by lines run- 



A VERITABLE EDEIf. 31 

ning north and south, east and west. One of these squares, the 
unit of the entire system, is called a township, and is six miles on 
each side. The township is divided by lines, one mile apart, into 
36 sections, each of which is one mile square, and contains 640 acres. 
Each section is again sub-divided into quarter sections, containing 
160 acres. These townships, sections and quarter sections, are all 
run out upon the ground and marked by appropriate monuments, 
and correspondingly numbered upon the Government maps. The 
initial point from which the numbering commences is always fixed 
at some prominent land mark. A base line is drawn from this point 
east and west, and a line running north and south called the princi- 
pal meridian. The lines parallel with the base line are termed the 
township lines, those parallel with the principal meridian the range 
lines, and numbered accordingly in squares from the initial point. 
In the division of Florida lands, Tallahassee, the capital of the state, 
is the initial point, thus bringing Alachua county between town- 
ships 6 and 12 and ranges 18 and 33 south and east of Tallahassee. 

In the creation of Alachua county, Nature seems to have done her 
very best in the admixture of pine and hummock lands, mottled and 
streaked with lakes and ponds and streams, under a tropical sun, the 
heat of which is tempered with constantly flowing sea-breezes, to 
produce a spot where man might live and enjoy the bounties of the 
earth with perfect safety to health, life and happiness, and with com- 
mensurate renmneration for the toil of his hands and brain. Eden 
was the creation of Nature's wisdom, not of man's inventive genius, 
and if Alachua county. Midland Florida, is not a veritable Eden, 
then there is no such place this side of the Great Hereafter. 




THE LAKE REGION. 

Op HE LAKE REGION is the eastern half of the county; it in- 
^^ eludes the city of Gainesville, AValdo, Hawthorne, Fair- 
d^ banks, Micanopy, Saludia, Melrose, Banana, Gruelle and 
Lockloosa, and other small settlements. It is far away from the 
bleak, damp atmosphere of the coast, and free from the malarial fogs 
of the large rivers and prairies. There are no real malarial and 
miasmatic diseases m this section of the State, and, all seasons to- 
gether, it is as healthy as any soot on the continent where people 
can live and make a living. The land through all this section is 
high, slightly rolling, with pine, oak and hickory growth inter- 
spersed. Where the land is not rich enough for vegetable products, 
it is excellent for oranges and other fruits, and thus it is inter- 
spersed as if made to order. 

GAINESVILLE is the largest and most important city in the 
State, excepting Jacksonville, Pensacola and Key West. Jackson- 
ville is the largest of them all, but, situated just over the Georgia 
line, is only recognized as a distributing point and a shipping i^ort 
on the St. Johns river. The many new railroads fast being con- 
structed down the peninsula from more western points will soon 
take from her a large amount of the travel heretofore compelled to 
go that way. These new railroads will all touch or connect with 
Gainesville, which must eventually become the railroad centre of 
the State. 

Pensacola, by its extreme western location, is more like a portion 
of Alabama than of Florida, while Key West, an island at the ex- 
tremity of a long reef of keys in the extreme eastern part of the 
State, is almost like a foreign port. Gainesville, therefore, by its 
peculiar central position on the great peninsula, is destined to be- 
come, by actual necessity and convenience, the most important 
city in the State. By reason of this gradually-admitted fact, and 
the easy means of communication, Gainesville must ere long be 
made the capital of *the State. It can, to-day, be reached quicker 
and at a less expense from all parts of the State, than any other 
city in Florida. 

It is now the county-seat of Alachua, and the trading centre of the 
most populous and productive scope of county, enclosed within town- 
ships 6 to 12 and ranges 16 to 23 S. and E. Its population is about 



THE LARGEST COTTON-SHIPPING STATION. 83 

4,000, which is rapidly increasing, more so at the present time than 
ever before in its histoiy. The city covers an area of one nnle 
square, with a new addition known as East Gainesville, while the 
new town of New Gainesville, closely connecting, with its Hygienic 
hotel, cottage sanatoriums, and fine business and building lots, will 
rapidly increase the power, importance and influence of the place, 
The U. S. Land Office, and the East Florida Seminary, and the 
Military Academy, are already located here, and it is likewise pro- 
posed to locate the State Agricultural College in the centre of this 
great agricultural region. 

The experiences of the early settlers at Gainesville were fraught 
with great danger from the Indians, as the whites from Georgia had 
long been in the habit of entering this section over the Alachua 
trail and running off the Indians' cattle, which grazed principally on 
the great Payne's prairie. "Bod" Higginbottom was the first settler 
here. He came when a young man about the year 1825. His log 
cabin stood on land now owned by Mrs. Bevill, on West Main street. 
Here the Indians frequently attempted to burn his cabin, but "Bod" 
was ever on the alert for them, and their efi'orts were vain. " Oak 
Hall " was the first house of importance built in Gainesville. It 
still stands facing East Main street, and is occupied by the U. S. 
Land Office. It is a large and imposing structure, surrounded by 
mammoth water-oaks, and must have been, when new, very hand- 
some. It was the residence of Tillman Ingram, who carried on an 
extensive plantation at Hog Creek, northwest of the town. 

Gainesville is the largest cotton- shipping station in the State; the 
firm of H. F. Button & Co. alone handle one-fourth of all the cotton 
raised in the State, for which they pay out to the growers annually 
over .$600,000. Cotton from this firm has the reputation of the very 
best in the market, the Willimantic (Conn.) Thread Co. being supplied 
exclusively by them, also other well-known leading establishments. 
The machinery used in its preparation for the market comprises in- 
ventions used nowhere else. The cotton ginneries of H. F. Button 
& Co. are the first great attraction wliich meet the eyes of the trav- 
eler as he approaches the city on the Transit Railroad from Cedar 
Keys. They consist of a number of large, substantial-looking build- 
ings, situated near the depot. The iron foundry of J. Boig, one of 
the institutions of the city, is also situated near the depot. The 
mercantile business of the city is centred on four sides of a public 
square, in the centre of which stands the county court-house — a 
gloomy-looking building, no great credit to the town, but one in 
which the records have been kept and justice meted out for thirty 



34 GAINESVILLE^ 

years or more. Diverging from this square, the town is regularly 
laid out with broad, well-shaded streets, running north, south, east, 
and west. The town is built upon a slight elevation, on what is 
known as a black-jack (dwarf red-oak) ridge. These ridges are well 
known to be healthy, and th e water pure. On these accounts they 
are sought as favorable locations for settlement. Gainesville is 
sufficiently removed from the surrounding rich hummock lands to 
assure good drainage and w^ater, and it is especially recommended 
by physicians as the most healthful city in Florida. Between the 
tw-o ridges on which are situated Gainesville and East Gainesville, 
is an excellent branch of water, known as Sweet-Water Branch. 
This will doubtless be utilized some day as a natural sewerage or for 
a water supply. 

The buildings in Gainesville are principally wooden structures, as 
they are all over the South, except in metropolitan cities. Hon. L. 
G. Dennis has a very noticeable two-story brick business block, 
nicely ornamented, substantial looking, and a credit alike to the 
enterprise of the owner and of the city. The Council Chamber of 
the City Government is located in it, where the Mayor's court is 
also held. It is also occupied by stores and offices, the very prettily 
furnished office of Capt. Dennis being situated in the northeast 
corner. 

After the burning of the old East Florida Seminary building early 
in the year 1883, the school occupied the uf)per jjortion of the 
Dennis Block, awaiting the building of the new Seminary. The 
public square served the purpose of parade ground for the military 
department, at the four corners of which the bugle calls were 
sounded each day, giving the city a slight appearance of being under 
military discipline and rule. The new Seminary Building, situated 
on East Main street, is a fine brick structure, built at a cost of about 
$13,000, a large portion of the money having been appropriated by 
the city, which was bonded for $12,000 for that purpose. Mr. L. A. 
Barnes has also a fine brick business block in the heart of the city, 
occui)ied by stores and offices. 

The County Jail is the only other brick structure in the city, 
although the front of the Varnum House above the first story is 
built of that material. The jail occupies a secluded spot just east 
of the centre of the town. It is two stories in height, of an impos- 
ing appearance, ornamented with a cupola, and is, interiorly, a well 
arranged and comfortable affair. This fact, of course, is an assur- 
ing one ; for while it is not desired that new-comers to Alachua shall 
be of the class that court the hospitalities of such an institution. 



PROMINENT BUILDINGS. 35 

yet it is well for all to know that, should they by any unf orseen cir- 
cumstance be unjustly forced to occupy this one for a brief period, 
they will be cared for in a comfortable and humane manner. Hill's 
Block, with its annex, the post-office building, is the most conspic- 
uous wooden structure for business purposes. It contains a large 
hall in the upper story together with business offices, with a grocery 
on the ground floor. Roper's Hall is the principal amusement resort 
in the city. It has a seating capacity for about 500, has a good 
stage, a drop-curtain, and a small amount of scenery. 

The most conspicuous building in the city is the County Court- 
house, previously spoken of. In exterior appearance it is not 
w^orthy of its prominence ; but a new structure, to be of brick, with 
fire-proof vaults and other conveniences, has been recommended and 
strongly urged, and active measures are on foot by the Board of 
County Commissioners for its erection at no far distant day. It is 
already suggested by leading minds that it occupy a new position 
east of the centre of the city, thus leaving in the centre a handsome 
public square, which might be easily beautified and provided with 
seats and fountains. 

The hotels in Gainesville are the Arlington, Varnum, Gainesville, 
Bevill, Magnolia and American. They are mostly small, and in spite 
of their number are not adequate to the great demands of the place. 
The Arlington is the largest, and is a fine and well-kept house, with 
pleasant rooms and a table suppli^l with the best that the Northern 
and Southern markets afford. It is one of the best hotels in the 
State, where i)olite attention is the rule, not the exception, and with 
capacity for about 200 guests. Many of the rooms open directly out 
on the broad piazzas overlooking the public square. Here enjoyable 
hours may be spent ; or, if too cool in the winter season, the large, 
well-warmed parlors, billiard-halls or reading-rooms offer attrac- 
tions among refined and agreeable company. Many visitors to the 
city seek rooms at boarding-houses, and take their meals at the res- 
taurant of Roth Reynolds, on the corner of East Main street and 
Alachua avenue, which, though not aspiring to hotel fame, does 
a large and increasing business the year round. 

There are many very handsome residences in all parts of the town 
of various styles of architecture, the larger portion of them being 
surrounded by fine orange groves and gardens in which temperate, 
tropical and semi-tropical fruits, plants and flowers grow side by 
side. The handsomest residence is that of Col. H. F. Dutton, of the 
cotton-buying and banking firm of H. F. Datton & Co. It is situ- 
ated on Liberty street, and has a most beautiful garden with lawns 



36 GAINESVILLE. 

aud walks about it, and fountains playing from an artesian well, in 
the digging of which gold was discovered in goodly quantity at 
about 190 feet below the surface. Among the other fine residences 
in town are those of Judge Gillis, Judge T. F. King, J. B. Brown, 
Geo. W. Sparkman, Mrs. B. H. Thrasher, W. K. Cessna, L. L. Hill, 
Hon. J. B. Dell, C. F. C. Sanchez, J. H. Goss, Mrs. P. Brown, 
M. Endell, T. Foster, Mrs. Z. B. Dawkins, Saml. Burnett, Mrs. 
Singer, Mrs. R. Scarratt, L. A. Barnes, H. C. Denton, J. A. Carlisle, 
Wm. Austin, W. W. Scott, J. C. Eastman, James Doig, Andrew 
Howard, Keeler Bros., R. C. McClellan, Mrs. W. J. McCormick, 
J. R. Post, Dr. Gusten and others. 

The principal streets of the city are East and West Main streets, 
running east and west, and Union and Liberty streets, running 
north and south. These intercept each other in the centre of the 
city, forming the public square before alluded to. Around this 
square are clustered the business places of the merchant kings of 
Alachua, from the doors of either one of which may be seen at a 
glance the proceedings in the entire square, excepting such portion 
as may be hidden by the great central object, the court-house. This 
is the great trading mart of the county, and upon each Saturday 
this square is filled with the people from the surrounding country 
who come here to sell tlieir products and to lay in their supplies for 
the following week. To strangers from the North this is a new and 
curious sight. Home-made vehicles of every description propelled 
by mules : lone cows harnessed with ropes into rudely-constructed 
shafts of primitive-looking go-carts, and driven, maybe, by a buxom- 
looking country girl in holiday attire and the ornamental accompani- 
ments, designed, no doubt, to enrapture the heart of some suscept- 
ible one of the opposite sex. Oxen, loaded with heavy yokes, be- 
hind which, in a heavily-wheeled oak cart, among boxes, barrels, 
bags, and numerous unmentionable articles, may l>e seen j^rotruding 
the head and shoulders of a grim- visa ged mammy or grand-mammy 
and a half-dozen pickaninnies of every age, size and complexion. 
Long, vegetable teams, drawn by four or six mules, upon one of which 
is seated a native Floridian, flourishing his long-lashed, short- 
handled whip in his peculiarly dexterous manner. Long-legged, 
aged countrymen in white pants, frock-coat aud tall hat, astride of 
some cadaverous-looking donkey, loaded additionally with baskets 
and bags well filled with rich products hanging each side of the 
saddle, the whole looking, at first sight, as if the man was endeavor- 
ing to steady the donkey and liis burden with his feet, which nearl}" 
tou("h the ground. Then women and children of every age, size and 



MARKET-DAY SCENES. 



37 



complexion, from the blackest black to the whitest white, from 
miles around, enjoying this their weekly gala day, talking politics 
and religion on the corners or in groups in the streets, lounging 
around upon the curb-stones, and dining at the improvised Satur- 
day eating-places, here and there located upon the top of some 
dry-goods box, and attended by the proprietors arrayed in snow- 
white aprons. 

These and many other sights greet the eyes upon the streets about 
the square on Saturday, and are richly enjoyed by visitors who are 




THE ARLINGTON HOUSE, GAINESVILLE, 

unused to them. Such quaint-looking sights, however, are fast 
dying away, by the advent of a new class of people with new ideas 
and higher ambitions. Engendered by the increased wealth of the 
natives and their neighbors, and freely scattered among the above 
described ancient-looking turnouts may be seen the finest styles of 
northern can-iages, drawn by dapper-looking spans, or buggies with 
sleet, well-bred horses, accompanied by prosperous orange and vege- 
table growers, with fashionably-dressed members of their own 
family or friends ; also gentlemen and ladies in riding habits, seated 
upon excellent saddle-horses, radiant with pleasure recently enjoyed 
in cantering over the hummock roads from their happy southern 
homes to the city. Here around the square may be found the post- 



38 GAINESVILLE. 

oflEice, the bank, the business offices and the stores of the enterpris- 
ing dealers in all kinds of goods; also, as elsewhere where money is 
freely dispensed, the incommensurable establishments which exem- 
plify the biblical declaration that "wine is a mocker and strong 
drink is raging." To the credit of the proprietors they are well kept 
and orderly, and minors are not admitted. By the newly-established 
laws of the State, liquor saloons are placed under the most rigid sur- 
veillance, whilst the excellent local government and the spirit of 
morality which pervades the civil and social atmosphere tends to 
warrant a continuance of peace and quietness even though they 
should fall into evil hands. 

Gainesville boasts in mechanical operations of the cotton gins 
of H. F. Button & Co., the iron and brass foundry of J. Doig 
& Co., the i^laning-mills of B. C. Drake, the printing-offices of 
the Bee and the Advocate, with carpenters, masons, etc., and 
the house and sign-painting establishment of the Keeler Bro- 
thers. Another planing establishment is to be erected east of 
the town, also a fruit-canning establishment and a vegetable- 
crate manufactory, while there is room for many more such 
enterprises, as well as for a paj[.er mill, an ice manufactory, a fur- 
nitui-e establishment, machine shops, cotton mills, etc., all of which 
would find remunerative business under most favorable circum- 
stances. Among the leading business people of the city are H. F. 
Dutton and Walter Robinson, of the banking house of H. F. Dutton 
& Co.; James Doig, founder; B. C. Drake, mill owner; L. G. Dennis 
and Leonard WalUs, lumber merchants; Philip Miller, grocer; 
Rawlins & Wilson, real estate agents; T. Foster, grocer; J. C. Ryder, 
proprietor of the Arlington House; General Varnum, of the Varnum 
House; McClellan & EUis, furniture and hardware dealers; P. M. 
Oliver, proprietor of the Oliver House and Oliver Park; J. B. Dell, 
stable-keeper ; J. C. Eastman, stationer and periodical dealer; 
Siegler & Phiefer, grocers and dry-goods dealers; C. B. Dodd, tinware 
and housefurnisher; Dr. A. J. Vidal, druggist; Mr. and Mrs. F. X. 
Miller, dry and fancy goods and milliners; W. N. Wilson, confec- 
tioner; C. A. Sheldon, grocer and fruit dealer; Hampton & Jordan, 
insurance agents; End el & Herman, clothing dealers; Finley & 
Hampton, attorneys-at-law ; Roth Reynolds, caterer; Dr. McKinstry, 
and Dr. Phillips, physicians; Miss Maggie Teabeau, private teacher; 
B. Klein, grocer and dry-goods dealer; Halliday & Rush, real estate 
agents; Robb, Lambeth & Seigier, of the Alachua, Florida, Improve- 
ment Co.; C. L. Fildes, Henry Varnum and J. C. McCreary, journal- 
ists; J. R. Post, jeweler; McMillan & Miller, druggists; Matheson & 



PROMINENT PEOPLE OF GAINESVILLE. 39 

McMillan, dealers in real estate ; Crawford & Jackson, meat 
and provision dealers; Stej)lien Ross, shoemaker; Keeler Bros., 
painters; G. K. Broome, general merchandise; Chestnut & Clinton, 
grocers; P. Martinez, cigar-maker; Mrs. Roth Reynolds, under- 
wear and patterns; M. Endel, dry-goods dealer; R. E. Shivery, 
tailor; J. O. Cromwell, dentist; E. C. McMahon, brick mason; 
P. H. Young, architect and conveyancer; T, Droomgool, cigar 
dealer; and others. 

Among the most influential of the legal and public men of 
Gainesville are: Hon. T. F. King, Judge of the Circuit Court; Hon. 
J. C. Gardner, Judge of the County Court; Hon. J. B. Dell, of the 
State Senate; Hon. L. G. Dennis; Hon. B. Rush, and Hon. M. M. 
Lewey, members of the State Assembly; L. A. Barnes, Register, 
U. S. Land Ofi&ce; Hon. Samuel Burnett, Mayor of the city; H. F. 
Dutton, President of the City Council; Prof. E. P. Cater, President 
of the East Florida Seminary; Hon. J. H. Roper, President of the 
Seminary Board of Education; J. A. Carlisle, Clerk of the Circuit 
Court; Judge W. W. McCall, the leading criminal lawyer in the State; 
Samuel Winges, Assessor; H. C. Denton, Collector; H. F. Day, 
Agent of the Florida Transit R. R. , and Chairman of the Board of 
Health; Reverends F. Pasco, W. H. Waugh and E. Ferguson. 
These and many others whom the writer would mention with pleas- 
ure, did space permit, are among the leading citizens of Gainesville. 
They all have the interest of Alachua county at heart, and letters 
addressed to any one of them would doubtless receive in response a 
hearty endorsement of the many facts mentioned in thia book, and 
would lend valuable additional aid and information to encourage those 
seeking homes in Florida. The larger portion of the peojDle men- 
tioned above own orange groves or vegetable farms in various parts 
of the county. 

This city can boast of as skillful physicians, as able lawyers, and 
as conscientious, God-serving clergymen as any in the South, while 
the educational institutions in its midst furnish a goodly sj)rinkling 
of professors in the various branches of learning, and have created 
a community well disposed and ambitious for the highest attain- 
ments; likewise attracting a class of new^ people who delight in 
ethical advancement. 

In educational facilities no other city in the State stands 
so high. There is the East Florida Seminary (elsewhere spoken of), 
Eastman's Chateau-briant, Miss Tebeau's School, Miss Johnson's 
School, the public Schools for white children, and the Union 
Academy for colored children. 



40 GAINESVILLE. 

The Chateau-briant is the private enterprise of Mr. and Mrs. J. C. 
Eastman, the latter having been a prominent teacher in the city for 
several years. A very handsome building has been erected on Gordon 
street, 42 x47 feet, with a piazza at the south, west and north sides. 
The interior is arranged in every way for convenience as a Ladies' 
Boarding-school. The rooms on the first floor are a parlor and a 
class-room, which can be used as one for entertainments, examina- 
tions, etc., with two similar rooms across a wide hallway, the largest 
for the study-room of the older scholars, the other for the Kinder- 
garten department. On the second and third floors each, are eight 
dormitories for the young lady students, all of which have means 
of heating either by fireplace or stove, and a room for the resident 
lady teachers. The house is built and furnished in the finest man- 
ner, and the institution is a creditable one to both the city and the 
State. 

Miss Tebeau's school is likewise a private school, where boarding 
or day pupils are received in the primary, intermediate and colle- 
giate branches of an English course of education, with music 
included. Miss Tebeau is a successful teacher, enterprising and 
thorough. 

The Union Academy, the leading school for colored children, 
is situated in the northern part of the city. It was established 
at the close of the war by the Freedmen's Bureau, the land 
upon which the building stands (one acre) having been pur- 
chased with money contributed by the colored people. It will 
accommodate 300 pupils, and is supplied with five teachers. 
Through the efforts of Hon. Matthew M. Lewey, member of the 
Legislature, from this county, a normal department was estab- 
lished, and is supported by an annual appropriation of |3,000 from 
the State. In the county there are thirty or forty other schools 
for the colored children exclusively, supported by the State, 
and principally taught by colored teachers. These schools manifest 
great progress, and are forerunners of great good. The colored 
population in the city, are, for the most part, of the advanced 
intelligent order. They are good citizens, industrious, orderly, 
and self-supporting. Among their number are able lawyers, 
teachers, merchants, tailors, boot and shoe-makers, bakers and 
cigar-makers. All but the first three have a monopoly of their 
respective trades. 

The interests of public education are in charge of a Superintendent, 
and a Board of Public Instruction. The Superintendent, Prof. 
Sheats, is located at Gainesville. 



SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES. 41 

There are four churches in Gainesville, at whose shrine the 
whites worship. They are the Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian and 
Episcopal. The present Presbyterian church was erected on the 1st 
of December, 1859, |1,200 having been raised in Florida and South 
Carolina for the purpose. It was dedicated the following year, and 
for a year or two was the only church-building in the town. The 
civil war paralyzed the mission enterprise, which was not revived 
until the fall of 1864. No Presbyterian Church had been organized 
here until March, 1867, when thirteen persons were enrolled with 
two elders, Dr. W. S. Dudley and Mr. Joseph Spencer. Since then, 
the ruling elders have been Messrs. J. B. Brown, J. D. Matheson,W. 
Wilson; the brothers, Lackey, Wm. Bryant, E. P. Cater, J. C. East- 
man, C. A. Sheldon and Dr. J. A. Vidal. Dr. Vidal, Prof. Cater, 
Captain Sheldon, and Messrs. Eastman and Matheson now consti- 
tute the Court of Christ. The Rev. W. J. McCormick, who had 
long been doing missionary work in the State, was regularly 
chosen as pastor in the spring of 1869, and filled the office until 
his death in July, 1883. Services are held regularly on Sunday 
morning and evening with Sabbath-school in the afternoon. At 
the last meeting of the Presbytery of Florida, this school was 
called the banner school. The superintendents are Messis. Mathe- 
son and Cater. The singing at tliis church is the finest in the 
city, the choir consisting of Messrs. Fitch Miller, Orville Bailey, 
Misses Bessie and Sophie McCormick, Miss Tadje Bailey and 
Mrs. McCormick, led by Mrs. French, teacher of music at the 
East Florida Seminary, and accompanied by a fine Estey organ. 
Repairs upon the church are contemplated, also the building of a 
parsonage. 

The Methodist Society was organized in 1854. Services were held 
in the court-house. The present church building was built in 1875, 
the previous building, built in 1859, having been so badly damaged 
during the war, by the U. S. Government, as to render it unfit for 
further use. The church lot was donated to the church by the 
County Commissioners in 1857. The following is the list of pastors: 
Reverends J. K. Glover, J. J. Seally, J. C. Ley, J. M. Bridges, 
Wm. Davis, O. A. Myers, J. G. Worley, J. O. A. Sparks, E. Crum, 
A. A. Robinson, S. Gardner, R. H. Burnett, O. Eady, H. F. Phillips, 
S. B. Smitteel, A. F. McCook, J. B. Johnston, J. P. DePass, and 
the present, F. Pasco. At the present time the membership of the 
church is 85. 

The First Baptist Church was organized in 1874. The present 
church-building was erected in 1875, through the efforts of Mrs. T. 



43 



GAINESVILLE. 



C. Ellis and Mrs. Judge Dawkins, on a lot purchased with money 
obtained by the sale of a lot adjacent to the M. E. church lot, which 
had been presented to the society by Dr. R. Y. H. Thomas. The 
only pastors have been the Rev. J. H. Tomkies and the present 
pastor, Rev. C. V. Waugh. The latter was called to take charge of 
the church in December, 1876, when the membership was but 19. 
The present membership is 70, and has been 96, which number has 
been reduced by removal and death. J. H. Avera and Robert Mc- 




EASTMAN'S CHATEAU-BRIANT at GAINESVILLE. 

Clellan are the deacons, the latter being also Superintendent of the 
Sabbath-school, T. B. Ellis is secretary of the society. In addition 
to the regular Sunday services, prayer-meetings are held every 
Tluirsday night. Connected with this church, are the Ladies' Benevo- 
lent Association, the Ladies' Mission Society and the Children's 
"Lottie Moon" Mission Society. 

There are four churches at which the colored people worship, two 
Baptist, one Methodist Episcopal and one African Methodist Episco- 
pal. The preachers are in their order of churches, the Reverends E. 



SOCIETIES AND ORGANIZATIONS. 43 

Ferguson, S. Gray, Aug. Waters and R. E. Shivery. Churches of 
the colored people are scattered all over the county, averaging, at 
least, three to a precinct. 

Among the other societies and organizations in the city, are the 
Free Masons, the Knights of Honor, the Cemetery Society, the 
Gainesville Guards, the Eureka Fire Association and the Little 
Giant Fire Company. The Guards number about 30 members, and 
are commanded by E. P. Cater, captain, with J. A. Carlisle as 
first lieutenant. Their uniform consists of a red coat, blue pants, 
and a helmet. The Eureka Fire Association consists at present 
of about 50 members, with Matthew M. Lewey, president; N. 
M. Clinton, vice-president; J. Z. Feltner, clerk; and Irwin Haynes, 
treasurer. The Little Giant Fire Company is made up of the 
active members of the Fire Association, with J. A. Parker, captain; 
Walter Desverney, lieutenant; Jas. Roberts, foreman; Jas. McClel- 
lan, assistant-foreman, and other efficient officers. The Little 
Giant Fire Engine is a very pretty hand - machine. It was 
presented to the above organization by the Hon. L. G. Dennis, 
of Gainesville. 

A horse railroad comx^any has been organized under the title of 
the Gainesville Street Railway Company, with J. W. Ashby, presi- 
dent; R. L. Robb, general manager; and L. G. Dennis, as secretary. 
It will be one of the most valuable acquisitions to the city when in 
full operation, and when the line is fully completed will furnish 
winter visitors with fine trips to both Alachua and Newnan's 
lakes. 

There are numerous orange groves in the very heart of the city of 
Gainesville. Mr. F. X. Miller, one of the most enterprising busi- 
ness men, has the largest. Near his residence on Union Street, he 
has a small bearing grove of fine nine-year old trees, and next to it 
a three-acre grove just coming into bearing. Bej'^ond this he has 
another three-acre grove just beginning to bear. Adjoining that, a 
six-acre grove with three to eight-year old trees, and beyond that a 
six-year old grove, with trees from seven to nine years old, among 
which are planted Peento x^eaches, which yield annually rich crops. 
These groves are situated on high land, in dry soil, and are within a 
minute's walk of the public square; they are so arranged that public 
streets may be run through them without disturbing the trees. 
They are^under the best cultivation, and visitors delight in looking 
over them. He fertilizes with the cow-pea turned in with a plow; 
also with ash element and cotton-seed meal, one-half ton to the acre 
put about the trees. Mr. Miller looks upon his groves as a sort of 



44 GAINESVILLE. 

life-insurance security for his wife and children, to say nothing of 
the benefits which he himself receives from it. Mr. J. A. Carlisle, 
the efficient clerk of the Ch'cuit Court, has a fine four-acre grove 
about Ms residence in the vicinity of Mr. Miller's groves. In addi- 
tion to the orange, he has some fine Red Astracan apple and Bartlett 
pear trees. 

Mr. Phillip Miller, a relative of F. X. Miller, in addition to carry- 
ing on one of the largest and most successful grocery stores in 
Alachua county at Gainesville, cultivates, near Alachua lake, 13 
acres of land. Here, in the midst of a young orange grove, he raises 
strawberries, corn, tomatoes, potatoes and other garden vegetables 
for his own trade, besides making shipments to the North. While 
he is thus making money with the present products, a fine orange 
grove is growing upon his land, wliich, in a few years, will give him 
an independent fortune. He, too, is one of the most enterprising 
men of Gainesville. 

Mr. L. K, Rawlins, another young, rising and progressive man, 
in addition to his real-estate business in connection with P. F. Wil- 
son, at Gainesville, is an extensive vegetable grower. He plants 
eighty acres near the lake and has started a 10-acre orange grove 
and a nursery, and is constantly adding to his possessions. Mr. 
Rawlins came to Gainesville in 1880 to escape death from rapid 
consumption. He is now apparently well. 

Among the enterprises credited to Gainesville, is Oliver Park, a 
very popular resort for the people all along the line of the Florida 
Southern Railroad. It is situated near Alachua lake, in the vicinity 
of the Sink. It is the great picnic resort, and the proprietor, Mr. P. 
M. Oliver, leaves nothing undone in catering to the enjoyment of its 
patrons. Musical, dramatic, and variety entertainments, dancing, 
swinging, bathing, glass-ball shooting, and such other amusements 
are among the many attractions presented, while Nature has done 
her full share in making it a place where tired humanity can seek 
rest and recreation. Mr. Oliver is the proprietor of the Oliver 
House in Gainesville, and a large owner of fine lands and orange 
groves. 

Mr. B. C. Drake may be justly ranked as one of the most success- 
ful men in Gainesville. He came here from Massachusetts in Janu- 
ary, 1871, a stranger and almost penniless. He first engaged in 
journalism, which business he followed for about six years. In the 
meantime he started a planing-mill, and finally gave his time 
wholly to that. In spite of some losses sustained by fire and other- 
wise, he is now numbered among the most substantial business 



CITY OFFICIALS. 45 

men of the city, and a living illustration of the fact that "industry- 
will thrive." He now operates a planing-mill, grist-mill, rice-mill, 
and jobbing shop. 

The converting of the Spanish moss, which grows abundantly 
from Florida trees, into a substitute for hair to be used in upholster- 
ing, is becoming quite an industry. There are several of these 
establishments in and about Gainesville. 

The local government of the city is in the able hands of S. J. 
Burnett, Mayor; H. F. Button, President of the City Council; L. A. 
Barnes, R. Shivery, J. T. McMillan, J. O. Cromwell, T. C. Gass, W. 
G. Robinson, N. M. Clinton, and W. K. Cessna, members of Council. 
J. n. Davies, Marshal. A. J. Arnow, post-master. 



NEW GAINESVILLE. 

^XrVc EW GAINESVILLE occupies a most beautiful and healthy 
site, on high, rolling pine land, just east of East Gainesville. 



It is being rapidly built up and improved. The plan of New 
Gainesville, with its hotel and surroundings, is most artistic. The 
hotel in the centre, surrounded by blocks of cottages built in the 
form of a circle, with openings between the blocks at the four car- 
dinal points. Outside of this circle of cottage blocks, will be a 
circular carriage way 100 feet wide, to be known as the Arena, on 
the outside of which, on both the east and west sides, will be two 
blocks of buildings for business purposes. On both the north and 
south sides will be two parks, designated respectively Oak and Pine 
parks, on the south; Magnolia, and Orange park on the north; the 
hotel, cottages and parks forming a bird's-eye figure like the centre 
and two sides of a Maltese cross. Radiating from the centre are 
various avenues, eighty feet wide, and extending to the town limits, 
where they connect with streets forty feet wide, which bound the 
town on all sides. Running north from the centre is Denver avenue; 
northeast. Savannah avenue; northwest, Orleans avenue; southeast, 
Chicago avenue; southwest, Brooklyn avenue. East and west, ex- 
tending from the centre of the city of Gainesville, through the Arena, 
on either side of the circle of cottages, and thence on to Newnan's 
lake, is Alachua avenue, the i)rincipal street in the city. It is 100 
feet wide, and will be the shell-road to Newnan's lake. Its entire 
length is four and one-half miles. The streets running parallel with 
Alachua avenue on the south are numbered South First, South 



46 



NEW GAINESVILLE. 




Sliii 



ma 



a3ftN3a 3riN3 

/ <;> 133Ui.S a . . ,Z>1, 

■''■lliiiip 



fe 






LJ 



•^ (O => - 

< ^ 



THE HYGIENIC HOTEL. 47 

Second, etc. Those on the north, are North First, North Second, etc. 
Streets running across the avenues in the opposite direction, or 
north and south, are lettered A, B, C, etc., commencing on the west 
or Gainesville side. These streets, like the avenues, are all eighty- 
feet wide, and are lined with building lots of 50x100 feet. On 
Alachua avenue, east of the Arena, there are a number of building 
lots 25x110 feet, for business purposes, in addition to those 
in the Arena. There are, altogether, over 600 of both sizes in the 
city, which are offered at from |25 to $800, according to location. 
These prices are, of course, only for the present. 

The hotel to occupy the centre of the circle described, is to be 
built at a cost of $100,000, and will be known as the Hygienic Hotel. 
It will consist of a central rotunda four stories high, with a cupola, 
and four three-story wings, extending north, south, east and west. 
It is designed for a health resort, and will be fitted throughout with 
all the modern conveniences for first-class guests. Outside piazzas 
and balconies will extend around the whole building for promenad- 
ing, and beautiful paths and lawns will take up the intervening 
space enclosed by the circle of cottages. These cottages will be 
sanitoriuin-annexes to the hotel, to be rented by the month, season, 
or year to individuals or families who desire retirement from among 
the general guests. A regular body of skilled physicians will be in 
attendance at the cottages and hotel, if desired. There will be one 
of each school of medicine, so that guests can have the best treat- 
ment, if necessary, under a physician practicing that system in 
which the patient has the greatest faith. Patients will be taken to 
board, and such treatment included for a specific sum per week, 
graded according to the selection of apartment. It is an institution 
that has long been needed, but has now become an actual necessity, 
as every year the reputation of this locality for health and sanitary 
purposes increases hither the travel of sick and ailing people. A 
large proportion of the people who visit here find it so beneficial to 
health, and the country so delightful, that they have become actual 
settlers. The building of the town about the Hygienic Hotel is a 
grand idea, which exactly meets the wants of invalids and pleasure 
seekers from all parts of the world, as here they can, in a locality 
selected especially for their needs, build them a home at a small 
cost, rent houses and live and engage in active business pursuits, 
where, in addition to climatic advantages, they can be under the 
care of the most skilled physicians. 

Just outside the town, commencing one-quarter mile from the 
hotel towards the lake, are 112 five-acre lots, which can be purchased 



48 NEW GAINESVILLE. 

at from $250 to $500 each, for farming and gardening purposes, 
orange groves or nurseries. Thus persons can live at the hotel or in 
the town, regain their health and strength, while, at the same time, 
they can have fine gardens or orange groves growing within easy 
distance, which they can visit each day, building up a fortune whilst 
building up their health. Climatic benefits are here secured in ac- 
cordance with individual temperaments. All persons are not bene- 
fited alike in the same localities. The climate here is best adapted 
to persons of a nervous temperament and its combinations. There 
are many people who come to Florida who are not benefited as 
greatly as expected. These have always been people of lymphatic 
and bilious temperaments. The climate here is of a soothing nature. 
It is quieting to the nerves, subduing them proportionately with the 
rest of the system which is allowed to strengthen. Those whose 
nervous force is already weak, and the rest of the system strong, lose 
here even the little nervous force they have, and are thus likely to 
realize injurious effects. 

The site of this new hotel, with its surrounding town, is on 
rolling pine land within eighteen inches of being the highest 
point between Fernandina and Cedar Keys, which line crosses 
the very backbone of the peninsula. It is declared by the ex- 
perience and observation of old residents and physicians to be 
absolutely healthy and the water pure. It is particularly bene- 
ficial to all pulmonary complaints; and to those of a nervous tem- 
perament, if not too far gone when they make the trial, it is 
absolutely beneficial. 

The plan of the Hygienic Hotel and Sanitary Cottages were con- 
ceived and promoted by, and are in charge of, the Alachua Improve- 
ment Company, of which R. L. Robb, M.D., is president, John E. 
Lambeth is secretary, and Dr. W. L. Seigler is treasurer. The com- 
pany have a capital of $180,000, with the object of developing 
Alachua county in general, and Gainesville in particular, by encour- 
aging every creditable industry desiring to locate or become estab- 
lished here. A large canning establishment, to be located in the new 
town, together with the Gainesville Street Railway, were the out- 
growths of the efforts of this company. The line of the Transit 
Railroad extends along the western border of the new town, be- 
tween it and East Gainesville, and the point where it crosses 
Alachua avenue is the natural depot-point of all the railroads run- 
ning into Gainesville. The wisdom of the railroad officials have 
long recognized this fact, and the union passenger station will be 
there built. 




'4^' 



A DELIGHTFUL SECTION. 49 

WALDO. 

I ALDO is a thriving, enterprising town, about five miles from 
the extreme northeastern boundary line of the county, on 
the main line of the Transit Railroad at the junction of the 
Peninsula Railroad and the western terminus of the Santa Fe canal, 
84 miles from Fernandina, 56 niiles from Jacksonville, and 15 miles 
from Gainesville. Its population at the present time is about 500, 
with a prospect of rapidly increasing, as it is daily being demon- 
strated that the lands in and about the corporate limits are as well 
adapted to fruit-growing as any in the State, while for vegetables 
of certain kinds it is also most productive. It has also the attrac- 
tions of water facilities, either for fishing, boating, or pleasure 
excursions, on the Alto and Santa Fe lakes. 

Its transportation facilities — provided by the Transit and the 
Peninsula railroads, both operated by the same company, and the 
Santa Fe canal — are unexcelled. The incorporated town comprises 
about 1,000 acres of high, level, piney land, surrounded by rolling 
land of the same nature, with here and there a cypress swamp. The 
soil is harder and less sandy than farther south, while in spite of the 
fact that a hard sub-soil is reached within a foot to 18 inches 
of the surface, oranges grow most abundantly, the trees attaining 
great age. The orange and lemon trees about Waldo have scarcely 
ever been injured by the frosts that have affected trees 100 miles 
farther south. The oldest and largest trees in the State, and one 
which passed uninjured through the severe winters of 1835 and 
1869, are standing within three miles of the town, at Fort HarleJ^, 
under which head, further on, we give a description of the latter tree. 
The region about Waldo is the highest between Fernandina and 
Cedar Keys, and is therefore considered absolutely healthy. The 
majority of the people are whites from all parts of the country. 
Tliere are about six miles of streets, and one-fourth of the town is 
planted to oranges. The business portion of the town faces the line 
of railroad, comprising about a dozen stores, several boarding- 
houses and hotels, including the Waldo and the Sunnyside houses, 
a carriage manufactory and blacksmith-shop, a wheelwright- shop, 
cotton-gin and grist-mill, three saw-mills within three miles of the 
town, two school-houses, five churches, Baptist, Presbyterian, 
Methodist Episcopal, and Congregational, a newspaper, express 
and telegraph-office, a daily mail in four different directions, and a 
money-order post-office. Also a large cigar manufactory, employ- 
ing some 30 or 40 hands. The headquarters of the Santa Fe 



50 ENTERPRISING MEN OF WALDO. 

Canal Company are located here, the engineer and superintendent, 
Mr. Ned E. Farrell, being one of the most enterprising of men, and 
a leading spirit in the advancement and prosperity of Waldo. He 
has a very fine residence within a short distance of the railroad 
depot, surrounded by a beautiful garden filled with luxuriant tropi- 
cal plants and trees. Mr. Farrell commenced here five years 
ago, and raised 1,000 orange trees from the seed; these he budded, 
and about 50 of them are in bearing. He has 100 LeConte pear 
trees, 100 peach trees, 50 Japan plum trees, etc., besides several 
varieties of grapes, and a nursery with 20,000 orange trees. From 
three acres of land he sold $1,000 worth of orange trees, besides 
raising thereon what are now in his own grove. He fertilizes with 
green crops, buckwheat, cow-pea, etc. He has one of the prettiest 
places in Waldo. 

Among the other leading business men of the place are Raulerson 
& Ambrose, David L. Ferguson, D. Hicks, D. L. Renault, M. D., 
and his sons, E. Renault & Bro. Raulerson & Ambrose do a fine 
business in general merchandise, and are heavy cotton buyers, pay- 
ing the highest cash prices. This firm and D. L. Ferguson are the 
leading merchants of the place and carry on a great trade in all 
kinds of goods, with the farmers for miles around. Mr. Raulerson 
is a native of Florida, and has been in business here since the close 
of the war. He also carries on a farm, raises cattle, and has an 
orange grove of six acres in the town, in which are some 500 seed- 
ling trees, eight years old. Mr. Raulerson, in caring for his trees, 
believes in allowing the lower branches to grow and shade the 
trunk, which is contrary to the ideas of many northern men, who 
believe the lower limbs should be trimmed so as to let in the air and 
sunshine. His trees are excellent bearers, yielding several thousand 
oranges and show what seedlings can do. He has the representa- 
tive seedling grove in this section. He uses only pea vines for fer- 
tilizer. His partner, Dr. Ambrose, is a native of Virginia, and has 
been in Florida since 1875. The first five years he was engaged in 
agriculture and merchandising in the southern part of the State, 
but his wife and children, natives of Florida, were such sufferers 
from malaria that he moved to Waldo for their health, where he 
has remained, his family being free from their malady since re- 
moval. Dr. Ambrose is a live, energetic man, and one of the influ- 
ential citizens of the place. Only a year ago he built a very pretty 
residence within easy distance of his place of business, where he has 
a good orange grove of vigorous bearing trees. These trees are ten 
years of age, and are as free from insect pests as any the writer has 



BUSINESS MEN OP WALDO. 



51 



seen. At the time of building his house the trees that are now in 
his front yard were covered with insects, but he soon stopped their 
ravages by washing the trees in a solution of ammonia, soap and 
kerosene. Another good wash for trees which he has tried is made 
of soft soap, carbolic-acid and lime. This forms a whitewash with 
which he whitewashes the trees. It is his belief that a little spider, 
which weaves its web in a cluster of fruit and leaves, creates a shell- 
back insect which is very destructive. There is also a mealy-bug 
and a red-rust which gets on the limbs, and is sure death to the tree 




THE RESIDENCE OF DR. AMBROSE AT WALDO. 



unless removed. The doctor is an excellent gardener, and among 
other things, has raised some mammoth onions, thirty-two of which 
make a bushel. If these could be kept until the fall he thinks there 
would be great profit in onion-raising for the home markets. Dr. 
Ambrose has a son about five miles from Waldo, who is carrying on 
a 200-acre farm, where he raises cotton and corn, principally, 
and owns about 100 head of cattle. Mr. D. L. Ferguson is a young 
man from New Bedford, Massachusetts. He came here only four 
years ago, and engaged in business. He is the successor of Fergu- 
son Bros., and does a large business and owns a young 10-acre 
orange grove which will soon yield him a rich return. He has also 



52 WALDO. 

a good home surrounded by orange trees and other tropical fruits. 
His enterprise and success show what a young man with small 
means, but plenty of energy and pluck, can do in Florida in a short 
time. The stores here do an average business of about |3,500 a 
month. 

Mr. D. Hicks, the carriage manufacturer, is located near the 
depot. He manufactures all kinds of carriages adapted to the uses of 
this country, made of the toughest stock. He makes fancy carriages, 
business wagons and fami wagous with the greatest care, receiving 
orders from all parts of the State. Mr. Hicks is also a practical 
trimmer, and takes great pride in his personal attention to the trim- 
ming of carriages of his own make, as well as those brought to him 
for repairs. He has a blacksmith's forge in connection with his 
business, and his work compares most f avorably»with the best in the 
country. Like all the business men and residents of Alachua 
county, Mr. Hicks has a fine orange grove. He has some 400 trees 
on from 8 to 10 acres, most of which are in bearing, and which 
will soon give him a generous income aside from his regular 
business. 

Dr. L. Renault is doing much to build up Waldo and its beautiful 
surroundings. He is a physician and surgeon from the Faculty of 
Paris, France, but more recently from Missouri. He has a fine 
residence about one and one-half miles from the town, on the line of 
the railroad, also valuable property in town, where he carries on an 
apothecary store in addition to his practice. He owns a fine grapery 
and an orange grove containing 2000 trees, which are the results of 
four and one-half years of improvement of swampy land, which 
'was so wet at the time of purchase that it was deemed by others to 
be worthless. It is now thoroughly dry and productive, and he 
receives an income from the products sufficient to pay all the ex- 
penses of the place. The doctor treats chronic and female com- 
plaints, furnishing accommodations for his patients who come from 
a distance. A large number of his friends from the West, through 
his instrumentality, are making arrangements to locate in and about 
Waldo. His sons carry on the city market under the firm name of 
Edw. Eenault & Bros. , and partaking of the enterprising spirit of 
their father, are valuable acquisitions to the town. The eldest has 
a 20-acre orange grove by the side of his father's filled with vigorous- 
growing trees. 

Among the other noted groves in and about Waldo, are those of 
C. K. Dutton, S. Z. Kennard, Thos. D.Williams, Dr. M. A. Gushing, 
Mrs. Sparkman, Robt. Campbell, S. F. Lewis, W. T. Jones, C. L. 



NOTED GROVES IN WALDO. 53 

Thigpen, Thos. Smith, Messrs. Stager, Dale, Neal, Beck, Iram, 
Godbey, Atwater, Thomas, Fogg, Rixford, Richie, Muri^hy, Pettit, 
Geo. W. Munich, Capt. Cole, and Mrs. Chadwick. 

The Livingstone grove is one of the most remarkable in the 
county. The trees are only three years from the budding on two 
year stocks and are bearing heavily. The land of this grove (20 
acres) was saw-palmetto and cypress swamp-land purchased by Mr. 
Livingston three years ago from the time of writing, for $G00. It 
has a hard-clay subsoil, only 18 inches from the surface, and was 
then uncleared. It is now blooming with rich-bearing orange trees 
of every variety. Usually, young, vigorous and thrifty growing 
trees are not great bearers, but Mr. Livingston is of a scientific and 
experimental mind, and spends the greater part of his time among 
his trees testing all sorts of new ideas; so much so is this betrayed in 
his work, that there are hardly two trees in the grove that are 
planted and cared for alike. Some are planted on the natural level, 
some on mounds, and some are enclosed in a sort of box arrange- 
ment, made of log sides with the earth filled in, with both hollowed 
and elevated centres w^here the tree stands. With some, the lower 
limbs are trimmed off, with others the lower limbs are allowed to 
cover the trunks, and yet all seem to do equally well except a few 
which are nearly killed by the use of some fancy remedy for insects. 
Those planted on the cypress- swamp land ditched, are doing won- 
derfully. He has some lemon trees of the Lemon of Genoa variety, 
thi-ee years from the bud, on seedling stock two years old, which 
show at one time four different stages of bearing, from the bud to 
the ripened fruit. Persimmon trees two years from the bud aver- 
aged eighty-five persimmons a tree, their average weight being one 
pound. The Homosassa orange does the best, showing good stocks 
and healthy. The Tangerine bear way into the stock. Only domestic 
fertilizers and corn-stalks are used. Mr. Livingston's grove may be 
properly termed an experimental grove. He is a careful and per- 
sistent worker, and believes that the groves will pay for all the 
attention given them by increased quantities of fruit. He grows 
with success in his garden the old New England crook-necked squash, 
and is experimenting with various grasses. Para Grass, Genuine 
Bermuda and Bermuda grass all do well, but no grass w411 grow here 
with exhaling glands which exhale the moisture. Mr. Livingston 
came here from Cairo, 111. 

Dr. M. A. Gushing is a man well along in years, but with a 
wonderful intellect, and hale, hearty and robust. His long silvery 
hair and beard, his one-story habitation, and his surrounding picket 



54 WALDO. 

fences caused him, in his little clearing in the pine forest, to appear 
to the writer like a veritable Robinson Crusoe, but haj^py and con- 
tented in the enjoyment of his happy home in company with his 
estimable wife, who enters with all the zeal of a good helpmate into 
the enterprising spirit of all his efforts. Dr. Gushing is a native of 
Massachusetts, and came to Waldo in 1879, with very small means. 
He bought 40 acres of swamp land, and when he commenced to 
clear it and build upon it, it was remarked that the old gentle- 
man was going out there to starve. On the contrary, however, he 
made a good living on it from the first, and has now a piece of dry 
and valuable j^roperty, sliowing more conclusively what can be done 
upon the swampy lands of Alachua county than anything heretofore 
attempted. Dr. Gushing cleared and cultivated his land without 
assistance, and has never used a horse, mule, ox or cow to plow it, 
doing the work with an axe, a grub-hoe, and such hand implements, 
backed by energy, pluck, and a wise head, and l;e now has a grove 
of orange, peach, pear, plum, persimmon, lemon and date trees, 
besides quantities of various varieties of grapes, tea-plants, etc. 
He plants his trees on a ridge, and plants corn on a ridge 
between the rows and fertilizes by putting the cornstalks into 
the ditches between, and covering them with dirt. The first 
year he fertilized with cotton seed. His first trees were set out 
In 1880 (35). He has now 119 in all. On three fifths of an acre 
of peach trees, he got 60 bushels: 5 bushels of these in the 
spring of 1883, brought $9 a bushel; the remainder brought |5 
a bushel. TJie doctor is so happy in his Florida home that he 
calls it Paradise, and we doubt if his wife could be temiDted to 
eat any forbidden fruit that would cause him to be driven out 
of it. 

Messrs. H. H. & Thos. D. Williams, father and son, are also 
from Massacliusetts. They purchased 56 acres of land on the banks 
of Alto lake, a mile or two from town, and at the end of three years 
have 1,000 orange trees, 125 pear trees, numerous peach, plum, and 
persimmon trees, a good house, barn and stable, with horses, cows 
and poultry. In purchasing and planting this j^lace and building 
they exhausted their means, but have made a good living each year. 
The fruits of their toil are now about to be realized by the orange 
trees which are coming into heavy bearing. This land cost them 
but $500. Its value now is way up among the thousands, and shows 
what a few years in Florida, with efforts properly directed, will ac- 
complish. They have a most delightful home, one of the richest of 
blessings to man, overlooking the beautiful lake; the younger Wil- 



ORANGE CULTURE IN WALDO. 55 

liams and his wife both energetic and ambitious, the elder Williams 
and wife in their declining years most emphatically expressing them- 
selves "happy and contented." 

Mrs. Deshay, about a mile from the town, is a widow, and a 
native of Florida. She caught the orange fever some years ago 
and planted trees, but her husband, who was then alive, scofifed 
at her foolishness and ploughed them up to make room for cot- 
ton, otherwise she would have had one of the most extensive 
groves in the vicinity. Some few trees about the house she man- 
aged to preserve, and they now tower above the roof of the house, 
and their golden fruit yield her an annual income which places her 
above want. 

Mr. W. T. Cheves, one mile south of the tovrn on the Peninsular 
Railroad, had a tree which was burned. He cut the trunk off near 
the ground and budded it. The new growth now measures three 
feet three inches around the trunk six inches from the ground. It 
is 17 feet high and has 15 feet spread of branches. It bears 1,500 
oranges. 

Mr. H. B. Heath came here in 1880 from Boston, Mass. He pur- 
chased a piece of land with 12 or 14 trees on it, but poorly cultivated. 
The first year these trees yielded an average of 1,000 oranges to a 
tree. The second year 1,500, and the third year 2,000, which shows 
the value of good cultivation. 

E. W. Hunt, from Massachusetts, came here six years ago for 
his wife's health. They had thought of going to California, but, 
counting the cost, found they could come to Florida and purchase 
a home and raise an orange gi'ove cheaper than they could go to 
California. His wife has recovered her health, and Mr. Hunt is en- 
thusiastic over the healthfulness of Florida. He has a small grove 
which yields him a good crop. 

Messrs. Bethune & Eddington, two young men recently in the 
English army, jointly own 40 acres of land a few miles from the 
town, six of which are devoted to oranges. Mr. Bethune is from 
Toronto, Canada; Mr. Eddington from Argyle, Scotland. 

Waldo has a good weekly newspaper, the Florida Advertiser, 
owned and edited by J. B. Johnston, formerly of the Atlanta Con- 
stitution and the Troy Enquirer. Mr. Johnston, for five months in 
the winter, is employed as teacher of the public school, when there 
is an average attendance of 108. In the summer the school is run as 
a private school, when the attendance is not so large. 

The city government of Waldo consists of T. M. Cuthen, Mayor; 
S. J. Kennard, Sr., Clerk and Treasurer, with R. W. Campbell, H. 



56 THE FORMER HOME OP THE REDMAN. 

C. Pettit, D. Hicks, John A. Preston, J. T. Weeks, and A. C. Beck- 
ham as Councilmen. The Marshal is H. M. Tillis. Post-master, J. 
M. Barnett. 



MICANOPY AND EVANSTON. 

(3^ 1<^ IC ANOPY is situated near the southern boundary line of 
♦li^- l\V Alachua county, on the north side of Tuscawilla lake, 
"^^^^ c) about 15 miles from Gainesville, and four miles from 
Orange lake. It bears the name of one of the great chiefs of the 
Seminole Indians. It was formerly an Indian settlement, the home 
of old King Payne, Micanopy, Osceola, and other noted chiefs of 
that celebrated tribe of Indians, until the white people became their 
conquerors and appropriated it to themselves. 

The Indians had their encampment around a small pond, now 
owned by J. J. Barr, and the only one in the town. The first white 
man to settle upon this immediate spot was a Dr. Payne, of Virginia, 
in 1S35. Judge Wm. Edwards, who owns a large orange grove in 
Micanopy, is a native of Florida. He was born in the State among 
the Indians in 1817. His father used to purchase venison of the red 
men at " one chalk a quarter." The Indians would bring venison to 
his home, and when Mr. Edwards was away would hang the quarter 
of meat in a safe place and make a chalk mark, indicating that Mr. 
Edwards was indebted to them to the amount of 25 cents and would 
call for it at some other time. The judge was brought up with the 
young Indians as his play-fellows. Judge Edwards is the pioneer 
orange grower of East Florida, and, until recently, had received 
more net money for oranges than any other man in the State. He 
is now quite feeble, but cultivates 600 orange trees and a large num- 
ber of Pecan trees. 

Micanopy is a very pretty town, the streets well and regularly laid 
out, and the homes of the residents fairly embowered among orange 
groves. The groves of Micanopy are among the oldest in the State, and 
are wonderfully prolific and profitable. The growing of this most 
delicious fruit is the principal employment of most of the Micano- 
pians, although in one year, in addition to 15,000 crates of 
oranges, there were 39,000 crates of vegetables shipped from here, 
and as many more, probably, of both products rotted on the ground 
or were wasted because of lack of shipping facilities or proper atten- 
tion. In the raising of oranges the people have fairly reduced the 
business to a fine art. Surrounding the many beautiful residences in 
the town are 137 acres planted with orange trees, all in full bearing. 



HORTICULTURISTS OF MICANOPY. 57 

Within a radius of three miles of the centre of the town , which 
area includes the waters of Tuscawilla lake, there are about 150 
orange groves. 

Among the owners of these rich possessions might be mentioned 
Judge Wm. Edwards, J. J. Barr, Dr. L. Montgomery, Dr. A. H. 
Mathers & Son, Harrison Bros., Emerson Bros., Christman Bros., 
Geo. S. Chamberlain, J. B. Martin, Lewis Selden, J. L. Patton & Co., 
J. T. McMillan, Judge T. F. King, Dr. E. D. Barnett, W. A. & W. 
C. Smith, M. L. Wood, Dr. W. Bruce, G. Y. Centre, D. C. Fink, Mr. 
Judd, R. B. Taylor, J. B. Brown, Moses Freymouth, Capt. D. W. 
Powell, D. C. Hart, L. H. Johnson, Wm. Shuford, J. W. Williams, 
Rev. N. A. Bailey, Robt. Hall, Hay good Bros., Mr. Avery, Mr. 
Slaughter, Mr. Green, Geo. Shuford, I. Jackson, Mrs. J. Simington, 
Bauknight & Sons, T. McCready, J. W. Carter, L. A. Smith, Rev. J. 
C. Lee, Riggs & Son, Mrs. Williard, J. Winecroff, Wm. Brice, J. W. 
Smith, J. McReady, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Wood, Judge Wagner, Miss 
Grace Elmore, Miss Ellen Elmore, Dr. Marshall, Mrs. Ferguson, J. 
H. Stokes, Mrs. Knox & Son, McCollum Bros., Capt. Arnow, Carn 
Bros., H. Peterson, Mrs. Merry, Cornelius Merry, Wm. Avant, Dr. 
Pardee, A. H. Price, Mrs. Crane, Shuford Bros. , and others. 

The combined area of these groves amount to 1,050 acres. They 
will, when in full bearing, approximate at the low estimate of $2.50 
a box for the fruit; an annual income of 1 125, 000 to this limited sec- 
tion of county, to say nothing of the vegetable products. 

The land here is very fertile, and particularly adapted to the rais- 
ing of early vegetables for the northern markets. The shipment of 
vegetables will average one-third of what the orange will, without, 
in the least, interfering with the growth of the latter if planted on 
the same land, rather bettering it than otherwise. 

The country about Micanopy is very interesting and beautiful. 
Wliile the town, situated on the northern border of Tuscawilla lake, 
is a level plain, the country about it is undulating and hilly, and is 
composed principally of hummock lands. There are tw^o hills about 
two miles south of the town and eight acres apart, from the top of 
which a very easy conversation can be carried on across the inter- 
vening plain. 

The people of Micanopy are mostly independently well-off, largely 
owing to their departure from the old custom of cultivating field 
crops alone. Fruit, vine, and vegetable culture combined now 
occupy their attention. The business of the place has, therefore, 
most rapidly increased within the past few years. Its rising pros- 
perity is now assured, as, until very recently, it was four miles from 



58 MICANOPY. 

the nearest railroad statiou. It now has a spur track from the 
Florida Southern Railroad, and has easy communication which it 
has never before enjoyed. The building of this spur track is largely 
due to Dr. E. D. Barnett, one of the enterprising men of the town. 

There are a number of very fine residences in Micanopy, among 
which are those of Dr. L. Montgomery, Wm. M. Knox, J. Wine- 
croff, J. J. Barr, Mrs. Simington, Mrs. M. A. Thrasher, Judge T. F. 
King, M. Shiretzki, Geo. Y. Centre, Judge Edwards, J. W. Smith, 
and other's in course of construction. 

Dr. Montgomery's residence is doubtless the finest in town. It 
is two stories high, with a two-story cupola, and is built in the 
finest style of architecture, with every convenience for pleasure 
and comfort. The house is surrounded with orange groves. The 
doctor is one of the most enterprising men of Micanopy. He has 
several groves in the county. He came to Florida, from St. Louis, 
in 1868, and purchased land in Orange county, fronting on the St. 
Johns river. During the next two years he went prospecting all 
over South Florida. Of all places he found Alachua county to be 
the best in quality of soil, purity of water, and health fulness. The 
adaptability of this section being so fine for orange-growing and 
agricultural purposes, he sold out his possessions in Orange county, 
and settled at Micanopy. He feels to-day more than satisfied with 
the change of his investment. Twenty-two feet digging on his place 
reveals nothing but homogenous, or "mahogany" sand, and no 
clay, so that the roots of his trees have full iDOSsession of the ground. 
At his residence on the 27th of June, 1883, the thermometer at 2.30 
o'clock, stood at 79"^. For the month of June the mean average was 
81*^, but with a refreshing breeze anywhere in the shade. The 
groves of Dr. Montgomery, also of Dr. Mathers, the postmaster, are 
mentioned under the head of " representative horticulturists, etc." 

Mr. Barr's grove adjoins Dr. Montgomery's. It has a very pic- 
turesque street front, the gate-posts consisting of two native oaks. 
One of Mr. Barr's orange-trees measures six feet around the trunk. 
He has about 1,000 trees in all, mostly in bearing. 

Capt. A. W. Powell is another well-known orange-grower and an 
extensive land-owner. He graduated from the South Carolina 
Military Institute, and came to Florida just before the civil war. 
He has a family of healthy children, natives of Florida, some of 
whom are raising oranges and doing well. Capt. Powell is one of 
the influential men of the county, and a member of the Alachua 
Board of Education. He has 1,000 trees just coming into bearing, 
and owns a large lot of pine lands. 



MERCHANTS AND OFFICIALS. 59 

The town of Micanopy covers an area of one section of land, and 
is the trading centre of quite a large scope of country. There are 
seven prosperous stores, three churches, two schools— one for white 
and one for colored children— and an active Orange-Grower's Asso- 
ciation, of which the Rev. N. A. Bailey is recorder. The present 
population is about 600, with every prospect of a rapid increase. 
Dr. S. D. Smoke is the leading practicing physician. 

The mercantile business of the town is conducted upon a very 
wide street on the lake side of the town. The stores all carry on a 
good business, catering to the farmers and fruit-growers for miles 
around, who, as elsewhere, make Saturday their great day for trad- 
ing. The trade here is good throughout tlie year, owing to the con- 
tinuous agricultural resources. Cabbages come early in spring, fol- 
lowed in turn by beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, long cotton, and end- 
ing with the orange. 

Among the most enterprising merchants of the place are J. L. 
Patton & Co., A. D. Cannon, A. H. Centre & Co., W. M. Knox and 
J. W. Smith, all of whom carry large stocks of general merchandise. 
In connection with the post-office, J. Cooper Mathers has a fine 
apothecary-store, the only one in the place. Dr. Montgomery 
is engaged in a fire insurance business, and in addition will soon 
start a bank. He also is interested in cotton buying and owns a 
cotton-gin and a grist-mill which are kept well employed. A livery 
stable, a carriage manufactory, two blacksmith shops and a market 
are among the industries of the town, while there is said to be more 
work for carpenters and masons than can be properly attended to. 
Micanopy boasts of one newspaper and two good boarding-houses, 
the former furnishing the mental, the latter the physical requisites. 
A fine hotel is contemplated to meet the wants of the increasing de- 
mands. A beautiful bluff near the town, on the banks of the lake, 
known as Wagner's bluff, is mentioned as an admirable site, while 
the centre of the town is more favored by others. 

The local government consists of the following : A. H. Mathers, 
Mayor ; D. A. Miller, E. D. Barnett, M. Shiretzki, Thos. McCready, 
IIami3ton Peterson, John Warren and Peter Wardlaw, members 
of the Council (four whites, three colored); G. Y. Centre, Town 
Clerk ; Amos Barber, Marshal; A. H. Mathers, postmaster. 

EVANSTON is a shipping station on the Florida Southern Rail- 
road, four miles east of Micanopy. It is near the northern ex- 
tremity of Orange lake. It has one store and several fine orange 
groves and vegetable farms in the vicinity. It is about 18 miles 
from Gainesville. 



SUCCESSFUL MEN. 



HAWTHORNE. 



f|^^AWTHOE,NE is one of the many new towns that have sprung 
CFl/ into existence by means of the railroads. It occupies high 
^^^ rolling piney-land, about 155 feet above the level of the St. 
Johns river. It is 19 miles east of Gainesville, 14 miles south 
of Waldo, and is the junction of the Florida Southern and 
Peninsula railroads. The soil here, though of sandy appearance, 
contains a vast amount of phosphate-rock and accumulations of 
vegetable mold or muck. Cattle subsist upon the wild grass the year 
round. Hawthorne has a fine Baptist Church, with a Methodist 
Episcopal in contemplation. There are five or six stores, two small 
hotels, two cotton-gins, two wagon, blacksmith and general jobbing 
shops, a livery and feed stable, and saw-mills wuthin easy distance. 
A good Academic school has been recently established. It also 
boasts of a newspaper, the Hawthorne Graphic. 

Messrs. T. J. McRae, L. Wertheim, the Adkins Bros. , and R. B. 
Smith are among the most public-spirited men of the place, each of 
whom take great interest in matters looking towards the growth of 
Hawthorne. 

Mr. McRae carries on a fine general merchandise store, one of the 
best in the county, and is the agent of the Transit and Peninsula 
railroads, the Southern Express Agent, and a kind, and courteous 
gentlemen. He has one of the finest residences in the tow^n, with 
stable and other conveniences, together with an eight-acre orange 
grove, with trees from four years old to bearing. Together with his 
brother, a merchant in Melrose, he has 400 acres on Santa Fe lake, 
150 acres of which are cleared, and 10 to 12 acres set with orange 
trees. Portions of his lots in Melrose can be bought ou reasonable 
terms by actual settlers. 

Mr. L. Wertheim, is a general merchant who keeps a full stock of 
goods. He owns 200 acres of land, 45 of which are under cultiva- 
tion, and four are planted with orange trees, 75 of which are in bearing. 
This land is within 2i miles of the Lockloosa depot, six miles from 
Hawthorne, has a new building, a sugar-mill, and a storehouse on 
it, and is a good place for a small business. He has also 160 acres 
within five miles of Hawthorne, with 20 acres under cultivation, 
well fenced, with a good well of water, and a few bearing orange 
trees. Mr. Wertheim is the present town clerk. 

The Adkins Bros, are also dealers in general merchandise, and 
keep a stock similar to the other above stores. They are men of 
enterprise, the younger member of the firm being the Mayor of 



SUCCESSFUL MEN. 61 

tlie city. J. R. Adkins, the senior, owns a 24-acre orange 
grove in town, with trees from four to six years of age. He has 16 
acres in a grove near Magnesia Springs, with trees from four years 
old to bearing. In the same vicinity he owns about 200 or 300 acres. 
About his residence in Hawthorne he has six acres which he plants 
to vegetables. From the crop of 1883 he shipped 420 crates to the 
North, and netted $328. 

Mr. R. B. Smitli is the representative farmer and fruit-grower of 
Hawthorne. He carries on a 200-acre farm, 100 of which he plants 
to corn, Sea-Island cotton and oats. His yield of corn for the 
season of 1883 was about 15 bushels to the acre. In cotton, his 
average is one bale to three acres. Of oats, his yield is about 20 
bushels to the acre. His crops, with the exception of the cotton, is 
for home consumption. Of oranges, he has 300 trees on eight acres. 
He has among them some of the largest trees in the county. His 
largest tree measures six feet around the trunk, two feet from the 
ground, and has borne 10,000 oranges in one year. It is 60 feet 
liigh, and is 28 years old. There are numerous other fine groves 
about the town. Through either of the above-named gentlemen, 
information on sjDCcial points or good lands may be obtained. 

During the years 1878 to 1883, the range of thermometer has been 
— lowest, 26 deg., highest, 101 deg., in the shade. Water here is 
abundant at from 12 to 20 feet deep, and is soft and good. No 
epidemic diseases have ever been known here, all the climatic 
conditions being favorable to health and longevity. 



FAIRBANKS AND YULEE. 

CT^AIRBANKS, about seven miles northeast of Gainesville, and 
Q/jr, midway between that city and Waldo, is largely composed of 
^cT^ northern people, so much so that Mr. C. D. Furman, its lead- 
ing spirit, and father of the town, is pleased to term it Yankee- 
town. Mr. Furman came to this place in 1878, when it was a 
verdant pine forest. He was then 65 years of age. He purchased 
1,084 acres of land, and laid out a town, and sold it out in 20-acre 
lots, making it a condition in all his bills of sale that no liquors 
should ever be sold on the place. 

Mr. Fairbanks, for whom the town is named, came to Florida 
40 years ago, and was one of the commissioners of the Arredonda 
grant. He is the largest tax-payer in the State, and is publisher of 
the Fernandina Mirror. 



63 GROWING PLACES. 

f 

Mr. C. H. Furman, son of the founder of the town, is, like his 
father, an indefatigable worker. He has a pretty cottage east 
of the railroad, with 40 acres of land set out with orange and 
peach trees. 

The elder Furman has a fine residence, with about 50 acres 
planted to all kinds of tropical and semi-tro]3ical fruits. His orange 
trees are bearing, with the oldest only four-years old from the bud, 
and his Japanese plum trees the same age. He has eaten dates 
from trees the seeds of which he planted after eating the fruit. 
Orange-trees, only two years from the bud, were quite full of fruit. 
Peach trees he has in an abundance, and six varieties of grapes. 
The Delaware does the best. Almond, Pecan, Spanish chestnut and 
walnut trees were coming on finely. A lot of umbrella trees orna- 
ment his ground to good effect. For fertilizer he has a fine bed of 
muck. The original town he had laid out in three streets one mile 
long; to these an additional mile has been added, to be known as 
the western division. 

D. L. Frazier & Bro., Dr. V. Berry and C. B. Pelton, are the mer- 
chants of the town. Each of them do a good business and are 
owners of lands or groves. There is a good prospect for a hotel 
here soon. The vegetable interests of the town increase each year. 
The town has a church (Episcopal), a school, with an average 
attendance of 30 scliolars, and a post-office with regular mails. 

YULEE is a station about five miles southwest of Waldo, and 
nine miles from Gainesville. 



MELROSE AND BANANA. 

gXlo^ELROSE is most prettily located on the southwestern bor- 
^£;/, i V ^^^ ^^ Santa Fe lake. A little bay makes in, creating a 
c<v.C/\v3 dehghtful and secluded water resort, where bathing, fish- 
ing and boating may be enjoyed. There are several stores and other 
industries, two churches. Baptist and Episcopal, a $22,000 school- 
house, two public squares and some fine residences. Near one of the 
churches stands the frame of an old building which was used during 
the w^ar as a prison for war captives. The land about Melrose is 
specially adapted for orange-growing, while the lakes near by serve 
as a protection from the frosts. There are many fine residences in 
Melrose, principally owned by northerners who make Florida their 
winter home. Dr. H. G. Vogelbach has the most conspicuous. 
Among the others are those of Major Vogiebach, Capt. Rhoads, 



CITIES OP THE FUTURE. 63 

J. W. McRae, Isaac T. Weston, J. W. Barnett, the postmaster, 
J. F. McCulle, J. T. Mizell, John A. Goodson, Mrs. A. S. Mosely, 
Thos. H. Fletcher, I. Felton, W. H. Lee, G. J. Jackson, E. Fehon, 
W. H. Stemmyre, M. Granger, P. Priolean, W. H. Westgard, Frank 
C. Smith, Mrs. M, B. Hicks, S. B. Torley, Saml. Thomas, and others, 
all of whom own orange-groves or other valuable lands. 

Mr. J. W. McRae is the leading merchant in the place. Together 
with his brother at Hawthorne, they do a fine business. They own 
560 acres of land, 60 of which is devoted to cotton, corn and pota- 
toes, 35 acres to other vegetables, and 20 to oranges. They own a 
steam-p)Ower cotton and grist-mill, where they also grind cotton for 
fertilizing. The other merchants are Isaac Mizell, Thos. H. Fletcher, 
and T. Myers. 

Melrose is peculiarly situated at the junction of four counties. A 
pai't of the village is in each of these counties, but the voting pre- 
cinct is in Alachua and the town is credited to Alachua. 

BANANA is more properly a Putnam county settlement, but it 
is, virtually, a part of Melrose. In matters of county rights and 
county distinctions, and the true lay of the land in and about 
these two places, one is apt to get decidedly mixed. The people 
of both places are one in heart, at least, and they live, learn and 
worship in harmony and accord. Melrose is an outgrowth of Ba- 
nana and has outgrown the parent stock. There is a post-office in 
each place and within short distance of each other. 

Dr. G. W. A. McRae is the post-master, leading merchant, drug, 
gist, practicing physician, and the happiest man in Banana. He 
owns about 1,428 acres of land, cultivates 60 to corn, Sea Island cot- 
ton, oats, vegetables and sugar cane. The season of 1883, with no 
transportation facilities, he shipped 100 crates of beans to the North. 
From one Peento peach tree he received $56 for the fruit. He has 
a nine-acre orange-grove and grows all the fruits adapted to the 
locality. 



CAMPVILLE AND MAGNESIA SPRINGS. 

fAMPVILLE is situated on the Peninsula Railroad, about ten 
miles south of Waldo. It is but three years old, yet displays 
a wonderful spirit of enterprise. It has one store, a scliool- 
house where religious services are held, a large saw-mill, a post- 
office, and about 20 houses. The Camp Brothers, from whom the 
town takes its name, are owners of the most of the property, 



64 OlTIES OF THE FUTURE. 

the saw-mill, the store, and 4,000 acres of land, which will be sold in 
5, 10 and 20-acre lots, at $5 and $10 an acre. It is rolling pine, with 
a clay subsoil, about a foot and a half down. Santa Fe lake is about 
three miles to the east. There are three of the brothers, R. J., J. S., 
and B. F. They own tln-ee orange groves here, and one-half interest 
in a nursery. The orange groves are as thrifty as any we have seen 
in the State, including the following varieties of trees: the Homo" 
sassa, Magnum bonum. Naval, Mandarin, Dancy, Tangerine, Maltese 
Blood, Mediterranean Sweet, Satsuma, Pineapple^ White and Harts- 
late. Among them are planted various other fruit trees and grape- 
vines. Mr. W. H. Kayton, formerly of Newberne, N. C, who is the 
other half-owner of the nursery, has charge of the Campville orange 
groves, and is quite an expert. He has manufactured a very effective 
insect exterminator, for use on orange trees. The insect-destroyers 
of orange trees are numerous. The white scale insect is one of 
the greatest pests. Its origin is not known. If allowed to remain 
it turns to the red scale and sucks the life from the bark and 
chokes the growth of the tree. An immediate remedy is to run 
the sharp blade of a knife the length of the trunk, cutting the 
bark. This allows the bark to open and the tree to grow. The 
mealy bug is another pest found principally up on the leaves. 
Mr. Kayton is a very rapid budder. By the watch he cut a bud, 
inserted it in a stump and properly bound it with twine in less than 
half a minute. Campville was formerly known as Santa Fe. 

MAGNESIA SPRINGS is situated near Campville, but on the 
Florida Southern Railroad. It is noted fur its celebrated Magnesia 
springs, the medicinal virtues of which are well-known for kidney 
complaints, diabetes, etc.; also noted for its natural fertilizer, 
millions of tons of which here abound. It is about 19 miles east 
of Gainesville. 



GRUELLE, LOCKLOOSA AND TARVER. 

fRUELLE, formerly known as Perry, is the junction of the main 
' branch with the Ocala Division of the Florida Southern 
Railroad. It is a thriving little town, about 10 miles from 
Gainesville, has a hotel, two or three stores, a saw-mill, and an ex- 
press-oliEice, etc. It is surrounded by some of the most prolific veg- 
etable farms in this section. It is quite near Newnan's lake. 

LOCKLOOSA is a landing and a shipping point upon the lake of 
the same name, about 29 miles south of Waldo, on the Peninsula 
Railroad. It commands a beautiful view of the lake. 



THE LAND OF FLORA. 65 

TARVER is prettily located on an elevation commanding a fine 
view of the celebrated Alachua lake, and about four miles east of 
Gainesville. This town- site was given to the Florida Southern 
Railroad by Mr. L. A. Barnes, of Gainesville, as. an encouragement 
to the building of the road. At the present time, it boasts of but 
one house. 

These various small towns and settlements are wide-away places, 
displaying wonderful enterprise, and are likely to make rapid growth 
within the next few years. 



FLORA. 



CTpLORA is one of the latest aspirants for growing fame. Though 
Q^^ among the last, it is by no means the least in importance. 
^6^ Flora adjoins Gainesville upon the northeast, and is so closely 
connected with the county-seat and its suburban resorts that it has 
all the advantages of a long-established city. It embraces over 2,000 
acres, situated higher than Gainesville itself, with a railroad upon 
either side of it which furnishes means of communication with every 
part of the country. This fine domain has long been considered one 
of the most admirable sites for a healthy and prosperous town ; and 
since its owners— Messrs. L. A. Barnes, of Gainesville, and H. C. 
Whitney, of Chicago — consented to place it upon the market in five- 
acre lots for orange groves, peach orchards, vegetable farms and 
homes, there have been speedy sales, which will not cease until the 
whole territory blooms with the richest of golden fruit among ver- 
dant foliage waving above and about rustic cottages and palatial 
residences which will soon peep forth from every quarter. 

Without a doubt the lands in and about this vicinity will, in a 
few years, be the most valuable in the State. Here the residents 
have all the advantages of the richest soil in a semi-tropical climate, 
where both the temperate and tropical fruits and vegetables can be 
grown, the best of water, and an atmosphere free from malarial 
taints; good fields for hunting ; lake resorts for boating and fishing; 
delightful drives; easy markets; regular mails and railroad commu- 
nication; the highest educational advantages; good churches of 
various denominations, together with an enterprising mercantile 
and manufacturing spirit among a social, refined, and law-abiding 
people, all of which features enhance prosperity and encourage 
strangers, tourists, or those seeking a new home possessed of the 
highest attainments, to join with the residents in adding to the 
value and importance of the place. 



66 



AGRICULTURAL SECTION. 

'HE entire county is more or less devoted to agricultural and hor- 
ticultural pursuits, but the recognized farming section is in the 
)^^ northern and western portions. Newnansville, Archer, Arre- 
donda, La Crosse, Gordon, Trenton, Fort Clark, Jonesville, Frank- 
land, Wacasasse, Fort Fanning and Suwanee, are all noted for their 
rich agricultural products. The last four-named towns are also 
noted for their success in cattle-raising. Cotton is largely grown 
in these various places, and to good profit, with the exception of at 
Arredonda, where the chief attention is paid to the raising of early 
vegetables for the northern markets. 

NEWNANSVILLE is situated in the northern part of Alachua 
county, about 16 miles northwest of Gainesville, 28 or 30 miles 
east of the Suwanee river, and 10 miles south of the Santa Fe 
river. The latter river is the dividing line between Alachua 
and Columbia and Bradford counties. For certain fruits, grain, 
corn, cotton, and the vegetable products, Newnansville is sit- 
uated in the most fertile portion of the county. It is also one of 
the greatest timber regions in the State. Up to the present time of 
writing it has been so isolated from other portions of the county, 
that but few of the inhabitants of Alachua have ever visited it, or 
know even of its many attractive features. Gainesville for years 
has been its nearest railroad point, in consequence of which its popu- 
lation has gradually decreased instead of otherwise. 

This state of affairs will soon be among the things of the past, as 
before this work is put into circulation, two railroads will have 
penetrated its corporate limits. The Live Oak, Tampa & Char- 
lotte Harbor Railroad will connect at Newnansville with the 
Florida Southern Railroad from Gainesville, making Newnansville 
a place of considerable importance, as well as furnishing a more 
direct and shorter course of travel from New Orleans, the North and 
the West to the upper part of the St. Johns river. Lake George, the 
Ocklawaha river and Silver Springs, through the orange belt and the 
lake region of Alachua county, thus obtaining at a less expense of 
time and money than heretofore, the pleasures of a visit to Florida's 
greatest attractions for winter visitors. A union depot of these two 
roads will be built at Newnansville. 

The Newnansville people, though small in number, are well-to-do 
and prosperous, and are blessed with a remarkable spii'it of public 



THE HOME OF YULEE AND DELL. 67 

enterprise. This, backed by a small amount of money, is a great 
motive power. 

Newnansvllle was formerly an Indian town. It was also one of 
the first and most important white settlements m Alachua county, 
which in Newnansville's palmy days comprised the entire stretch of 
country south of the Suwanee river to Tampa bay. All South Flor- 
ida was then known as Alachua. Newnansvllle and Micanopy, 
which was another old Indian town, were the favorite abiding- 
places of the Seminoles, whose good taste in the choice of Nature's 
bountiful gifts was most admirably displayed in selecting Florida as 
their retreat when they separated from their progenitors the Creeks. 
They capped the climax in that regard when they selected the north- 
western and the southeastern limits of the present county of 
Alachua, with the beautiful country between these two points in 
which to fish and hunt their game. When the whites obtained jdos- 
session of this region, they applauded the natural taste of the Indian 
by appropriating, as the sites of their own towns, the old Indian 
settlements. 

Newnansvllle was formerly the county scat of Alachua, and held 
it with commendable pride until the wisdom of the people, in 1854, 
after a hotly contested election, removed it to the younger but more 
central settlement at Gainesville. The United States Land Office 
was at that time located at Newnansvllle, and the courts adminis- 
tered the laws imder the influence of her social atmosphere. The 
old court-house, standing in the old Court-house Square, and now 
used principally as a Masonic Temple, is a relic of those days when 
the legal talent, the personal culture and the social refinement of 
Florida, fondly congregated at this place. From here Gen. David 
L. Yulee started on his wonderful career to wealth and fame. Gen. 
Yulee is the son of Moses Levy, who was a Jewish rabbi. When a 
young man he turned his attention to a study of the law, a thing 
adverse to the ideas of his father and the Jewish custom. The son 
persisted in his studies, for which he was disinherited by his father, 
the rabbi. David changed his name to Yulee, his mother's family 
name, and later became the very popular United States Senator 
from Florida. He married the daughter of Governor Wickliffe, of 
Kentucky, and became quite distinguished. He is the pioneer rail- 
road man of Florida, and was for a long time President of the Tran- 
sit Railroad. He now lives in Washington, but spends his winters 
in Florida. 

At Newnansvllle, the Dell family, whose name is cherished by 
Floridians, claim a birth-place and a home. The present State 



68 COTTON GROWING. 

Senator, J. B. Dell, of Gainesville, still owns 2,000 acres of the 
prettiest hummock land in the State, on the wire road from Gaines" 
ville, just southeast of the town. On the border of this land nearest the 
town is a very pretty lake, known as Burnett lake, taking its name 
from the father of his Honor, the present Mayor of Gainesville. 
Other members of the Dell family still reside in this vicinity, own- 
ing large tracts of land, and beautiful, well-cultivated farms, pleas- 
ant sights to the eyes of a true lover of Nature. These lands 
consist of most beautiful hummocks, hilly and fertile, flourishing 
in the cultivated portions with waving corn, bordered with grassy 
hillsides and plains, looking altogether more like a genuine New 
England scene than any other of which the State can boast. With 
such scenery, and the balmy influences of a Florida summer, what 
more could the heart of man wish. 

In the northeastern part of the town, upon the brow of the hill 
upon which the town is situated, stands the Methodist church, an 
ancient structure to which the people of to-day come to worship as 
in the days of auld lang syne. To the left of the church is the 
cemetery, filled with the remains of the good people of the past, 
among which are those of Gen. Pyles, the first general of Florida 
militia, also those of his brother. Col. Lewis Pyles, who lost his life 
at the battle of Seven Pines, while serving at the head of his regi- 
ment, tlie gallant 2d Florida Volunteers, under General Lee. 

The streets of Newnansville are well and regularly laid out, on 
either side of which are the homes of the residents, with their 
beautiful gardens of fruits and vegetables, in many of which the 
writer has seen rich-looking corn growing to the height of 13 
feet. The principal street is shaded by beautiful old China trees, 
the Pride of India, while upon it is situated the very home-like, 
hospitable hotel kept by P. F. Olmstead, and the stores of the mer- 
chants of the place. Among these merchants, Mr. A. P. Edgell keeps 
a large stock of general merchandise, and is the largest cotton buyer 
in the precinct, operating in connection with the firm of H. F. Dut- 
ton & Co., of Gainesville. 

About 600 or 700 bags of cotton come annually to Newnansville 
for market, of which Mi-. Edgell handles from 400 to 500. This 
number will be largely augmented by the increased transportation 
facilities provided by the new railroads. There are about 1,000 bags 
of cotton raised annually in the precinct. Some of this is sent to 
Gainesville direct, and some to Lake City. The cotton crop in this 
part of the State, and possibly the same in other parts of the South, 
is fast becoming a negro crop. They can grow cotton and make it 



MERCHANTS AND PLANTERS. 69 

a successful business where the white man, in general, cannot. It 
certainly looks as if, in the future, the negro is to be the cotton- 
planter and producer. The white men, both natives and immi- 
grants, are fast turning their attention to oranges, vegetables, and 
the various tropical products, which pay them far better than cot- 
ton. The civil rights of the negro are in no way interfered with. 
They are respected if they behave themselves, and the most of them 
do. Politics was, formerly, taken to heart, and each man seemed 
to think that his own personal interests depended solely upon the 
success of the party which he represented. This mistaken notion 
is fast dying out, and men of all parties, and from all sections of 
the country, are united in their efforts to make legitimate business 
their leading worldly thought, and by strict attention to the raising 
of the crops, and inducing others to join them in so doing, to make 
Florida what she soon will be, the Nation's Garden. Mr. Edgell 
came here from the North but seven years ago, and is one of the pros- 
perous men in the county. In addition to his store, he plants about 
22 acres to cotton. The recent season's crop (1883) was waist 
high on the first of July, which was an extraordinary growth 
at that date. The cotton-making months are July and August, 
when the sun is the strongest and most effective. Cotton is picked 
about the middle of August, and it is a novel sight to see, during 
the next month or two, the business of placing the cotton upon the 
market. The Dell family, John K. Stevens, Edward Hodges, R. 
L. Cathcart, J. Hainesworth, Mrs. E. S. Gunnell, Mrs. Richards, 
John Lewis, Jesse Shaw and the Vaughan Bros., are among the 
prominent successful planters. 

Mr. W. H. Geiger, a prominent citizen, keeps a well-appointed 
di'ug-store, as does also Mr. J. H. Love, a very courteous and agreeable 
gentleman. 

Mr. Herman Levy keepr, a store filled with general merchandise, 
and is one of the progressive-spirited men of the place. 

Mr. E. K. Fagan is also a dealer in general goods and is possessed 
of an enterprising spirit. 

There are some 500 planters with their families in this precinct, 
all of whom are supplied by the above stores. 

Dr. Williams is the oldest physician in the town. His long resi- 
dence here has given him a perfect knowledge of the best treatment for 
diseases peculiar to this country . He has one of the largest and most 
beautiful orange groves and Pecnto peach orchards in this section. 

Dr. Cloud, a young and promising physician, is the contemporary 
of Dr. Williams, and is also an able physician. 



70 PRODUCTS OF NEWNANSVILLE. 

Among the other prominent orange and fruit growers in this 
vicinity are Messrs. J. M. Shaw, E. K. Fagan, F. P. Olmstead, Geo, 
Boston, Saml. Diipui and Mrs. Shuford. The writer was informed 
by Mr. Olmstead, that orange trees look as well at Newnansville 
after a cold as they do in Orange county, 80 miles further south. 
The land about here is claimed to be the very best for orange culture. 
Among the other principal fruits grown, are peaches, the Le Conte 
pear, pomegranates, figs, plums, walnuts, strawberries and grapes. 
Bananas are cultivated to some extent. Apples will grow under 
proper care. The scuppernong grape for wine, is the principal 
grape, and a natural wild-grape, known as the muscadine, is very 
• prolific in the woods. Corn, oats, grasses, cotton, arrowroot, cas- 
siva, potatoes, both sweet and Irish, and sugar-cane, are the princi- 
pal vegetable products. Corn yields 20 to 30 bushels to the acre, 
sweet potatoes 400 bushels to the acre, while farmers make from 10 
to 12 barrels of sugar and syrup from an acre of cane. Long staple 
cotton, the only kind planted, yields 500 lbs. in the seed to the acre, 
which is equal to 125 lbs. in the lint. No fertilizers are used here, 
the farmers, so far as the use of it is concerned, hardly knowing 
what it is. At Mr. Levy's store, the writer was shown a red onion 
grown upon Dr. Williams' farm, which measured 13 inches in cir- 
cumference, and weighed upon Mr, Levy's scales one and three- 
quarter pounds. 

The timber in this region is very abundant, rich and varied. Here 
may be found yellows-pine, the finest in the State, from which may 
be cut mill-logs 70 f ee+ in the clear. The hummocks are filled with 
the finest hickory, magnolia, cedar, live-oak and red-bay. Live- 
oaks measure seven feet in diameter. The largest live oak in this 
vicinity covers the ground with its branches 400 feet. Hickory runs 
60 to 70 feet clear, from two to four feet in diameter. This would be 
a grand place for a carriage manufactory, which would find a most 
remunerative business. 

An old cotton-gin is established here, the business of which will 
be profitably revived through the new transportation facilities pro- 
vided. Lumber mills will also doubtless be among the new enter- 
prises. West and southwest of Newnansville, for 40 miles, is one 
vast forest of pine. The other suiToundings are almost exclusively 
rich hummock. The land between the town and the Santa Fe river 
is rolling and very fertile. 

The houses in Newnansville are mostly shaded by magnificent 
water-oaks, the finest residence being that of Horace Tarbox. Mr. 
Olmstead's present public-house stands upon a most excellent hotel 



'THE PINE LANDS. 7l 

^ite, which will, doubtless, soon be appropriated for accommoda- 
tions to supply the wants of the many new visitors who will soon 
seek this town. The local government consists of Geo. W. Watts, 
Mayor; W. H. Geiger, President of Common Council; A. B. Edgel, 
L. M. Pearce, James Love and F. P. Olmstead, members of Council; 
W. H. Levy, Clerk and Treasurer; E. C. Beach, Marshal and Col- 
lector; E. K. Pagan, Assessor. 



ARCHER AND PALMER* 

/C¥ RCHER is situated on the Florida Transit Railroad, about 
l^f/ 15 miles southwest of Gainesville, on fine, rolling pine 
o' land. The location is notably healthy, and for persons 
afflicted with asthma, bronchitis, and lung diseases, do better place 
m Florida can be found. The soil is high and dry, with a soft^ 
red-clay subsoil, making it retentive of moisture and fertil- 
izers. The people are intelligent, energetic, hospitable, and 
social, and new-comers are welcomed with great cordiality* 
Quite a number of Quakers are among the community, and 
more are expected. The corporate limits of the town are within a 
circle of one-half a mile from the central point, the depot, and is the 
only town we know of laid out in a circular form. Near the depot 
are located the post-office, express office, hotel, several stores, one 
saloon, a carriage and wagon shop, and a number of private resi- 
dences, while near by are two cotton-gins, two grist-mills, a saw- 
mill with planing machine, and a chair and plough stock manufac- 
tory. Archer is a place of considerable trade, and a sliipping station 
for the surrounding country. This place was settled just before the 
war, about the time the Transit Railroad was built through this fine 
stretch of pine land. Mr. J. W. Williams, formerly of South Caro- 
lina, was one of the first settlers. He resides here still, with one of 
the prettiest residences in the town, and is one of the leading and 
most influential citizens. 

Considerable attention is paid to vegetable growing, about 15,000 
crates being shipped from here in a season. Archer, however, 
makes no claims as a vegetable section, though, as a matter of fact, 
there are but few of the products of Florida that do not flom-ish on 
her surrounding piney lands, which are very productive. The red 
clay soil found here is not unlike that found in Leon county further 
north, but it is deeper down. As a sample of what these piney lands 
will do, Mr. J. M. Kelly, during the season of 1883, raised $360 



't2 PEACHES AND COTTON. 

worth of cucumbers on three-quarters of an acre of land, besides 
raising on the same land a quantity of sugar cane, from which he 
made $100 worth of syrup. Orange-growing here is in its infancy, 
as no great attention has been paid in that direction until very re- 
cently. There are several groves near the town, all of which are 
doing well, some of them in bearing. Peaches grow excellently 
here and to good profit. Peento peaches are not great bearers, but 
they bear annually. They are sold at times as high as $15 a box, 
and we have heard of their selling in the New York market as high 
as $9 a dozen. While this latter price may have actually been ob- 
tained, as it was so declared to have been, and by a reliable person, 
yet it will do our readers not the slightest goad to believe it. These 
peaches ripen in May, which makes them quite valuable. The 
honey-peach comes a little later and is much liked as a sweet peach. 
The Florida native and other common varieties do well. One gen- 
tleman had on exhibition during the visit of the writer to Archer, 
a peach which weighed nine and one-half ounces. It was grown on 
his place about ten miles south of the station. It was of the first 
picking. Mr. Williams has raised peaches here weighing one pound 
two ounces. One of the favorable points in peach-raising here is 
that the fruit is never touched by insects, nor is it ever gummy. 
No one ever saw or knew of an insect in a peach grown here. One 
may be picked from the tree in the dark and eaten without any 
hesitancy. 

The principal attention of land cultivators about Archer is paid to 
raising Sea Island cotton. It is, therefore, a heavy cotton- shipping 
station, and averages a shipment of 600 bags annually. About 400 
pounds of cotton are grown to the acre. Some attention is paid to 
cane-raising and syrup-making. About five barrels of syrup is ob- 
tained from an acre of cane. The annual shipment of syrup is about 
600 barrels. 

Those who have turned their attention to fruit-growing, an indus- 
try that is rapidly increasing, find that the orange, peach, pear and 
plum grow profitably in this part of the county, and are all freer 
from insect pests than in places further south. It is confidently ex- 
pected that the new Lake City, Tampa and Charlotte Harbor Rail- 
road will run through Archer on its way south, in which case Archer 
will have admirable and competitive transportation facilities which 
will rapidly increase her population and importance. 

Among the most enterprising industries in the town is Lipsey & 
Christie's nurseries, described elsewhere. It is situated about half 
a mile southeast of the depot. Mr W. B. Lipsey, the resident part- 



NURSERIES AND ORANGE GROVES. 73 

ner, hag a very fine residence upon the brow of a hill from which 
can be seen his cultivated lands, mostly devoted to nursery purposes. 
His house is two-and-a-half stories high, with a one-story and a 
French roof ell, built and furnished m the most modern style. His 
nursery is among the finest in the State, filled with shade and orna- 
mental trees, fruit-trees, vines, etc. 

Adjoining Mr. Lipsey's place is the orange grove and residence of 
Dr. J, C. Neal, who, like Mr. Lipsey, came from Marion county, 
Indiana. He was suffering from consumption, but a year or two in 
Florida made him robust and rugged, and he owns largely of valu- 
able real estate. Around his residence he has about 400 orange trees 
doing splendidly. Three fine old oaks by the side of his house fur- 
nish delightful shade for his yard. In conversation with the doctor, 
the writer gleaned the following concerning disease in this section : 
The election precinct embracing the town of Archer contains about 
1,500 people. The death rate has been about 1 1-5 to the 100, and these 
include all causes, such as old age, accident, etc. The rate of death 
from diseases incidental to the climate has been 5-10. Disease is 
much easier handled here than at the North, only mild remedies 
being employed. Influenza, scarlet-fever, and measles are very 
rare. The diseases most prevalent are of the bilious type. The 
climate is a specific for astlima. Many have remained here but a 
short time with beneficial results. There are more people in Florida 
seeking health than there are in any other State. This climate is 
absolutely sure to palliate lung diseases when it does not cure. This 
is not strictly a malarial country. In July and September, the hot- 
test months of the year, there is sometimes a heat that is overcom- 
ing and which heats the blood. This heating becomes a fever, and 
though commonly called malaria, is not so. There is not as much qui- 
nine used in a year in Alachua county as there is in any of the 91 
counties of Indiana, and Alachua is one of the largest populated 
counties in Florida. 

Messrs. T. B. & Chas. E. Pearsons, father and son, are raising 
a nursery near Lipsey & Christie's, with every a ssurance of success. 
On their new ground the writer saw a gherkin vine growing wild, 
densely covering 25 feet of ground. From this vine, in six 
weeks, 3,298 gherkins were picked, while there was every pros- 
pect for as many more. 

Mr. J. S. Christie, of Hackensack, N. J., Mr. Lipsey's partner, 
owns one of the largest orange groves in this section. It is seven 
miles southeast of Archer. It occupies 93 acres of hummock land, 
and contains 4,500 trees just coming into bearing. It curves around 



H MI3SSRS. WILLIAMS AND SNAVELLY 

three sides of a pond towards which the land has a gentle slope. 
This grove was planted by Mr. Lipsey, who has the care of it. 
Three or four trees are already bearing. They occupy a spot where 
a cabin burned down. This fact convinced Mr. Christie of Mr; 
Lipsey's idea, that fertilizing pays, and he at once ordered nine and 
a half tons of bone fertilizer, which, mixed with potash, was dis- 
tributed among the trees. In fertilizing, Mr. Lipsey puts to a 
young transplanted tree, three-quarters of a pound of fertilizer, of 
which 40 per cent, is clear potash. For a three-year-old tree he 
uses three pounds^ and adds a pound each year* Mr. Christie has 
another grove near-by of 27 acres, and 60 acres more to 
plant to grove. Altogether he owns four sections of land in 
this vicinity. About three miles from the town Mr. Lipsey owns a 
young orange grove with large quantities of pear, peach and other 
fruit trees. They are all on piney land and doing welh 

Inside the town limits,; and within a stone's throw of the depot, is 
Mr. J. W. Williams' residence, previously spoken of. It is sur- 
rounded by a most fertile eight-acre orange grove, also an acre 
planted to Le Conte pear trees, and another acre in which are Pecan 
trees, plum trees, the ever-bearing mulberry trees, bananas, and 
vegetables. As a fertilizer, he uses the cow-pea, which grows most 
wonderfully on his land, which has been under cultivation for 15 
years. From a goose-craw plum tree, brought from Massachusetts, 
by L. A. Barnes, of Gainesville, Mr. Williams picked a plum that 
weighed three-quarters of an ounce. He has a splendid Peento 
peach tree that has made wonderful growth. His 400 orange trees 
are just coming into bearing, and 15 of his Le Conte pear trees 
will bear next season. He has fine scuppernong grapevines, and 
about 20,000 nursery orange trees. The plum tomatoe is a wonder- 
ful producer. His two or three vines grow enough for two 
families. He does something in poultry, and finds it profitable. 
The yard in front of his residence is filled with various flowers, 
while two tall, uniform tree-stumps, covered with English ivy, pre- 
sent a most picturesque appearance. 

Mr. A. B. Snavelly, a new-comer to Archer, from Wabash, 
Indiana, has proven what can be done by an Experienced western 
farmer. About the first of the year, 1883, he purchased, through 
Mr. Williams, 80 acres of land by the side of the railroad, and 
within the town limits. This was all virgin piney woods when pur- 
chased. Five months later 40 acres of this had been so thor- 
oughly cleared and cultivated, that a plough could go through it as 
easily as if it were old laud. On 10 acres, 500 orange trees had 



MERCHANTS OF ARCHER. 75 

been set out, and the land about them was covered with a rich 
growth of cow-peas (the Florida clover and fertilizer), the balance 
of the land being devoted to pear, Japan plum and lime trees, 
orange beds, banana beds, rice and potatoes; he had already 
gathered one crop of the latter vegetables. In clearing his land, 
Mr. Snavelly discarded the shiftless way of clearing ground by gird- 
ling trees and leaving them standing until they rotted down, or of 
chopping the trees down and allowing the roots and trunk to rot out. 
He dug down around the roots and cut them off, then pulling the 
tree over he had his ground cleared of tree, stump and roots at the 
same time, and at a small expense. One of his colored men was 
so pleased with this method, that he said to Mr. Snavelly, " Yo' 
groun' is so clar, boss, dat it look jes' like as ef it had been swep' 
wid a broom. I declar', boss, I nebber did see anything like dat 
away afo'." Yfithin these few months he had also moved a house 
into the centre of the lot, built an addition to it, and a cistern. 
Upon one side of the house he had planted five old orange-tree 
stumps and grafted them, and they were putting forth a fine new 
growth, with indications of early bearing. This shows what can 
be done in a few months if one has the will to do it. In five months 
time he had converted a verdant forest into a beautiful home sur- 
rounded by land as smooth and as clear as are many of the south- 
ern lands that have been under cultivation for thirty years. 

The enterprising merchants of Archer are Wade A. Geiger, C. W. 
Bauknight, W. L. Jackson, G. M. Blitch, J. D. George and F. G. 
Bauknight. These gentlemen do a fine business with patrons from 
among the planters for miles around. They each keep groceries, pro- 
visions, dry-goods, hardware, crockery, and such general merchan- 
dise as is usually found in a first-class store. They are located on either 
side of the railroad. Nearly all of them are land or cattle owners. 
Mr. Geiger owns 260 acres of land, 75 of which he plants to cotton, 
cane and corn. He owns large tracts of timber, has two orange 
groves, and raises peaches, melons, oats and corn. He also runs a 
cotton-gin and a grist mill. Mr. C. W. Bauknight owns 33 o acres, 
with 175 two-year orange trees on it, and five acres with 250 young 
trees on it. He has one acre in town with his store and residence 
upon it, on which he has 1,000 three-year orange seedlings to be set 
out in the fall, and 10,000 eight-month trees doing nicely. From a 
Peento peach tree, three years old from the bud, he gathered two 
bushels of peaches. He has Pecan nut trees well under way, and 
owns 80 head of cattle, which pay him 33^ per cent, interest per 
year on the money invested in them. He says this is a fine cattle 



76 ENTERPRISE REWARDED. 

country. Droves of fine cattle jDass through this town from the 
western part of the county on their way to Tampa, where they are 
shipped to Cuba. Mr. George W. Blitch is an extensive cotton 
buyer. He has not dealt much in land as yet, but owns 5]^ acres of 
land in the town with orange trees on it. Mr. W. L. Jackson carries 
on a cotton-gin and grist-mill, and a saw-mill in addition to his 
store, and owns 2,600 acres of land, 300 of which are under cultiva- 
tion. He has a small orange grove, with nearly 100 trees on it. Mr. 
F. G. Bauknight has about 80 acres of land within half a mile of the 
depot for sale. In addition to the usual run of general merchandise 
in his store, he keeps furniture and ice, carries on butchering and 
cattle dealing, and keeps horses and buggies to let. Mr. J. D. George 
has been in business but two years in Archer. In addition to his 
store of general merchandise, he carries on a saloon. All that 'he 
now owns he has made here in tJie above time. Mr. James Skinner, 
witliin a short distance of the depot, has a carriage manufactory and 
blacksmith's forge, which is patronized from all parts of the State. 
He manufactures vehicles particularly adapted to this country, and 
does a large business in carriage and wagon repairing. Mr. Skinner 
came to Archer about six years ago, with only |100. He started a 
business which he expected would employ himself only about half 
his time. To-day he keeps from three to five hands constantly em- 
ployed, and has hard woik to keep up with his orders. He has 30 
acres of land within the town limits, 10 of which he has planted to 
orange and pear and peach trees, and 10 to rice. He is also building 
himself a $1,500 house. He considers that his business to-day is 
worth $1,500, and he has been burned out once since he started, and 
lost $1,000. From his peach crop he sold some of his Peento peaches 
in the Baltimore market, for 60 cents a quart. He says there is 
an excellent chance here for a good harness-maker and carriage- 
trimmer. 

On the prairies outside the town limits for miles is good cattle 
country, where sheep and horse raising may be carried on without 
any expense, as the cattle will feed themselves. The country around 
is principally settled by negro squatters, many of whom have built 
quite pretty homes on land not their own. There are several quite 
pretty drives from Archer to the ponds and settlements and orange 
groves within a few miles distant. 

Archer needs a first-class hotel ; and a brick-yard might do a pay- 
ing business, as there is as good clay here as there is in the country. 
Bricks made of it have been in use in the town 25 years, 
and are in prime condition. A party of gentlemen here have 



THE BOSS VEGETABLE REGION. ^ 77 

entered into a contract with a New York party to grow 25 
acres of strawberries next season, with the hope of raising 100,000 
quarts, for which they will be paid 15 cents a quart till the first of 
April, and 10 cents then to the first of May, the New York party to 
furnish the plants, the baskets, the crates and refrigerators for pack- 
ing — in short, to provide for everything but the labor of cultivation 
and the soil. The ofiicers of the town of Archer are Joseph F. 
McDonald, Mayor; Wm. C. Andrus, President of Council; G. M. 
Blitch, James D. George, C. W. Bauknight, John T. Fleming, W. B. 
Pine, members of Council; John E. Hughes, Town Clerk; James S. 
McDonald, Jr., Assessor; A. T. Duren, Collector; F. S. Bauknight, 
Treasurer. W. C. Ajidrus is the Postmaster. 

PALMER, formerly known as Batonville, lies midway between 
Arredonda and Archer, on the Transit Railroad, about 10 miles 
from Gainesville. 



ARREDONDA AND HUMMOCK RIDGE. 

,C% RREDONDA is a shipping station on the line of the Transit 
S^l/ Railroad, about seven miles southwest from Gainesville. The 

c^ locality was formerly known as Kanapaha. It is settled 
for some miles around by fai-mers and vegetable growers, whose 
products are among the richest revenues to the county. Large 
numbers of field hands and other laborers are employed, whose 
earnings are quickly distributed among the merchants. Money 
thus receives rapid and extended circulation. 

When the State of Florida was in the possession of the Spanish 
government, tracks of land were granted to various parties for some 
meritorious acts. Among others, Arredonda & Son, of Cuba, mer- 
chants, in consideration of settling 200 families in Florida, were 
granted the tract known as the Arredonda grant. It is the richest 
body of land in the State, and includes the city of Gainesville, the 
towns of Micanopy, Palmer, Fairbanks, Yulee, Gruelle, Tarver, and 
Arredonda, the latter being situated very nearly in the centre, and 
known as the richest portion of the grant. 

The land at Arredonda is rich and fertile, responding with alacrity 
to cultivation, yielding rich returns. The soil is largely mixed with 
finely comminuted bits of shell, or carbonate of lime, which fur- 
nishes a natural fertilizer almost exhaustless. Nearly all kinds of 
fruits and vegetables can be raised here with profit. Mr. W. F. Rice 
has a piece of land on the border of Arredonda lake, where, at the 



78 LEADING SPIRITS OF ARREDONDA. 

Bide of an Indian spring, is a solid wall of decomposed shell and 
lime-rock standing 20 feet high and extending back into the hill and 
surrounding territory an unknown distance. There are thousands 
of tons of it. In some instances well-formed shells can be taken 
from it while the surrounding matter will crumble like chalk. It 
has been analyzed, and said to be, with mixture with other matters, 
one of the most valuable of fertilizers. 

Mr. Rice is the general merchant of Arredonda. He is also post- 
master, railroad agent, and express agent. His store is near the 
depot where he does a large business. He is one of the leading and 
most enterprising men of the place, and has been here seven years. 
He has been in the State 15 years, having done business in Gainesville 
before coming here. His residence is about a quarter of a mile from 
the depot where he has 11 acres of land, two of which are planted with 
orange trees, and some with vegetables. He has 20 acres, beneath 
the soil of which may be found the phosphate rock or natural fertil- 
izer above spoken of. Of wild land elsewhere, he has in all about 
100 acres. During the season of 1883, Mr. Rice says there were 
shipped from Arredonda 50,100 crates of vegetables by freight and 
30,000 by express, which, with 17,000 from Hummock Ridge, a small 
station two miles away, makes very nearly 100,000 crates of vegetables 
from the Arredonda lands in three months. This was the Jargest 
shipme-it ever known from here, and while Nature was so bountiful 
in her gifts, Mr. Rice is of the opinion that from various causes the 
shippers did not make more than an average season's profit, but the 
country around was greatly benefited by the circulation which was 
given to money, through the field hands and other employees. Mr. 
Rice is a gentleman whose information can be relied upon, and will 
readily furnish it to any who desire to learn more about this wonder- 
fully productive region. 

Mr. E. Ramsey may well be termed the father of Arredonda. He 
has been here 30 years. He came when it was so sparsely settled 
that deer could be shot within a short distance of the cabin. The 
settlers then were largely engaged in stock-raising, an enterprise 
that is not wholly suspended at the present day, as large herds of 
cattle are raised uj^on the many fine grazing grounds for miles 
around. The early immigration to Arredonda was from South 
Carolina. They were principally old cotton growers, and a good 
class of people. Many of them or their descendants are still here. 
The railroad brought more settlers from different parts of the coun- 
try, the most of whom are earnest and industrious workers of the 
soil. 



MORE OF THEM. 79 

Among the other noted shippers at this station are D. W. L. 
Barton, J. R. Flewallen, J. T. Walls, P. F. Wilson, and L. K. Raw- 
lins, of whom mention is elsewhere made. 

Mr. Flewallen came here six years ago from Alabama with noth- 
ing but a spirit of ambition, energy and pluck. The season of 1883 
he purchased the entire crop of J. T. Walls, and, together with his 
own crops and some others, shipped 16,000 crates of tomatoes, and 
15,000 quarts of strawberries. His first shipment of strawberries, 
on the 9th of February, brought in New York, $3 a quart. His last 
shipment in May sold for 20 cents a quart. Average, 37^ cents. 

Mr. G. H. Sutherland is one of the active, enterprising men of 
Arredonda. Mr. Sutherland came here only six years ago, with but 
$600 borrowed money. He now owns 400 acres of land, and a home 
worth at least $10,000. He has 28 acres near his residence, 15 of 
which he plants to vegetables and strawberries, and for the season 
of 1883, made $1,000. He has 300 large orange trees, 150,000 young 
trees in nursery, with peach. Pecan, English walnut, and other 
trees. He has 20 hickory trees grafted with Pecan-nut buds, 
three years old from the bud, which are doing nicely. He has a fine 
residence upon the brow of a hill, with carriage-house and a Stover 
wind-mill for watering purposes. Mr. Sutherland takes great interest 
in locating strangers for the building up of the place, and furnishes 
any information with pleasure. 

Mr. B. P. Richards, of Gainesville, owns 35 acres upon which he 
has a house, and an orange grove of 2,200 six-year old trees, of the 
finest varieties, about 100 of which are bearing. He has a 12-feet 
wind-mill for irrigation. This grove was planted under great diffi- 
culties and discouragements. It was the first grove planted here, 
and was scoffed at. It has more than paid its expenses, and has 
proved a perfect success. 

Arredonda can boast of the first church edifice built on the Arre- 
donda grant, and known as the Kanapaha Church (Presbyterian). 
The first service was held here in April, 1859. It still stands, and is 
occupied. A school is held at Arredonda, about four months in the 
year. 

HUMMOCK RIDGE, about a mile or two northeast of Arredonda, 
is the centre of a good farming section, on the Transit Railroad. 



80 THE farmer's paradise. 

LACROSSE, GORDON, SUGAR GROVE, ETC. 

WAY from the lines of the railroads are numerous towns and 
settlements in every part of the county. New ones are con- 
o stantly springing up so fast, now that the tide of immigration 
has turned towards the interior, that it may be difficult within the 
next few years to keep the run of tliem. Those known as Lacrosse, 
Gordon's, Jonesville, Fort Clark, Trenton, Frankland, Wacasassee, 
Fort Fanning, Suwanoe, Worthington Sprixxgs, Sugar Grove, and 
Fort Harley, are old settlements, in which may be found many of the 
oldest and most respected families in Florida. These settlements, 
in many instances, take their names from the oldest and most 
influential settlers, or from the proprietors of the principal stores, 
and some of them have changed their names as the representatives 
of the village title have died or moved away. 

LACROSSE is situated almost due nortli of Gainesville, near the 
Santa Fe river, the northern boundary line of the county. It 
is a most beautiful and rich agricultural section, hummock 
and pine lands interspersed, and only lacks railroad facilities to 
bring it prominently into notice, and to secure to its inhabitants 
abundant riches. It is about 16 miles from Gainesville. Among 
its most prominent citizens are J. E. W. Markee, H. C. Parker, 
John & EH Furch, Adam Right and Mr. Blitch. 

A fine Baptist church has just been completed here, and the sound 
of the Sabbath bells is heard every Sunday morning calling the wor- 
shippers to church, The Sunday-school and singing society which 
are held at the church are much enjoyed. A drug store has recently 
been opened by Mr, Geiger, a graduate of a pharmaceutic college, 
and Dr. H, Warner, from Canada, has located here as a practicing 
physician. New houses are being built to accommodate the new- 
comers, and the great need of the place, railroad transportation, 
will soon be among the things that are. 

GORDON is situated a little to the east of Lacrosse, and Sugar 
Grove is a few miles to the southwest. The soil here partakes 
of the characteristics of Lacrosse. Both places will, at no far- 
distant day, be densely inhabited. The people of all three of these 
places are principally farmers; intelligent, upright, conscientious 
and well-to-do people. 

J0NE8VILLE was formerly known as Dudley's, Mr. Jones being 
the successor of Mr. Dudley. It is about 13 miles west of Gaines- 
ville, and is noted for cotton-raising and the vegetable products, 



THE HOME OF THE BIG ORANGE TREE. 81 

TRENTON, until quite recently, was known as Joppa. It is about 
25 miles west of Gainesville, in a rich country of beautiful, rolling 
pine land, some of it the best in the county for the production of 
Sea Island cotton. 

FRANKLAND and WACASASSE are favored with the same 
natural characteristics as Trenton. The whole region about here is 
excellent for cattle-raising. 

FORT FANNING and SUWANEE are '' 'way down upon the 
S'wanee river," in the western extremity of the county. They are 
in a rich, fertile region. 

WORTHINGTON SPRINGS are noted hygienic resorts. They are 
situated both sides of the Santa Fe river, near Newnansville, and are 
favorite resorts for people troubled with rheumatism. 

FORT CLARK is about midway between Gainesville and Jones- 
ville, and is the location of the noted Bevill farm, of which mention 
is elsewhere made. 

The lands at these various settlements are very rich and produc- 
tive. The people in many instances grow all that they eat, and 
make many of their clothes from the cotton raised in their own fields. 
They are, therefore, largely independent of the outside world, and 
are an orderly, law-abiding people. Their great general amusement 
consists of barbecues and picnics, at which tlie people gather from 
all parts of the county, and have " a heap of fun." Nearly all the 
people own rich farms, which are nicely cultivated. 



FORT HARLEY. 

CT^ORT HARLEY, about three miles north of Waldo, is noted 
Pjfa for the largest orange tree in the State. It is now the 

^6^ property of Mr. R. W. Campbell, railroad agent at Waldo. It 
has never been affected by the colds or frosts. It measures nine feet 
around the trunk, is 37 feet high, and has four forks 18 inches from the 
ground. The two largest measure four feet around, the two smallest 
three feet six inches. It was damaged by fire a few years ago, but 
is now as vigorous as ever. It has borne 10,000 oranges in a single 
season. (See cut on page 17.) 



83 



Wayside Notes. 

SIDE from the above noted places there are' scattered all over 
the county hundreds of homes situated here and there with- 
out any distinctive location, forming, without doubt, the nu- 
cleus of grand towns and cities of the future. Along the shores of 
the Santa Fe lake are some of the finest of these habitations. Among 
them, on the western border between Waldo and Melrose, are the 
large orange groves and lakeside homes of Geo. C. Rexford, Baron 




THE BALMORAL HOTEL. 

H. V. Luttichau, Mrs. Pierson, of New York ; Gen. Elias Earle, an 
old veteran of the Mexican war ; Bayless Earle, his nephew ; Messrs. 
Wheeler, E^ving, Moore, and Bender's, the latter place being more 
popularly known as the Balmoral Hotel, although it is a private resi- 
dence. Just outside of Gainesville, a little beyond the fair-ground — 
which is now unused — northeast of the city, is the palatial residence 



HARMONIOUS PEOPLE. 83 

of H. C. Whitney, a lawyer of Chicago. Several acres enclosed 
about the mansion are planted to orange trees, which will make a 
rich-looking place in a few years. About six miles northeast of 
Gainesville is the ante-bellum plantation of Madison Sparkman, 
father of Geo. W. Sparkman, of Gainesville. It presents a dignified 
appearance with its still standing negro cabins reminding one of the 
times that were, although they are now shaded by luxuriant orange 
trees, M'hilst all around are fields of waving corn, cotton, and graz- 
ing cattle, which denote continued comfort and prosperity. North- 
east of Sparkman's, somewhere near Hatchet's creek, is situated the 
Keitler settlement, composed largely of Northern people. Here the 
writer fell in with one of those specimens of honest humanity who, 
on being informed that the Glen Cove Springs & Melrose Railroad, 
from Melrose to Gainesville, would penetrate this vicinity, objected 
to it in the following language: "I've hearn haow these railroads 
kills a heap o' cattle, but if they run over one o' uiy hogs I'll tear up 
the rails for shu'." This objection is only equaled by one that we 
heard by another man, who declared that he saw no reason why he 
should get the stumps out of his corn-field when they were not put 
there by him. 

In the county outside of the settlements, and here and there along 
the roadsides, may be found the cabins of many colored people. 
Some are owners of the property upon which they are located, while 
others are merely squatters. To the colored race, as a wdiole, much 
credit is due for their wonderful advancement during the last decade. 
At the close of the war they were left without friends, money or 
learning, and without the knowledge even of how to obtain either. 
Free they were, to be sure, but upon a land not their own, w^ithout 
homes or food, and scant of raiment. They were the victims of 
circumstances, the blame for which it would be hard to attach to any- 
one. As they had been made slaves so they were made freemen, 
without the exercise of any will of their own. It was natural for 
their former masters to apprehend danger from such an universal 
liberation of people who were then to exercise the power of their un- 
trained will for the first time. It was proper that they shovdd take 
measures to avert it if possible. Misunderstandings were natural, 
and under political excitements, feuds, depredations and cruelties 
were but the natural sequence of cause and effect. These matters, 
however, are for future historians and not for our pen. It is our pur- 
pose only to show that the people of Alachua county, both white and 
colored, are of the better classes and harmonious in tlieir affiliations. 
it will be generations, perhaps, before the colored people will, as a 



84 ENCHANTING DRIVES. 

race, rise to the level of the farther advanced white race, but in the 
meanwhile, here and there will appear advanced minds among them 
struggling to bring their people up to the highest plane in social and 
educational standing, and their, homes, humble though they be, are 
among the many interesting scenes that are presented to view in 
traveling through Alachua county. 

There are some very interesting woodland drives from the various 
cities and towns that we have described, the most charming of which 
is through the San Felusco hummock between Gainesville and New- 
nansville, or over Sugar-Foot prairie between Arredonda and Gaines- 
ville. The latter drive the writer enjoyed with Mr. Fitch Miller, of 
the last-named place. We entered upon this road just as twilight 
was welcoming in the sable queen of night, when familiar amphib- 
ians were repeating their evening prayers and chirping insects were 
tuning their harps for their nightly serenades. We dashed along the 
solid road through open forests of stately pines and trees, whose 
branches, covered with Spanish moss, seemed like an army of gaunt 
spectres enveloped in a rising fog, thence into the density of 
a lonesome hummock, where purring brooks and whispering streams 
told of their love for mother Earth as they clung to her bosom while 
scampering through woods and meads. The good steed NelKe, drink- 
ing in the inspiration of the hour and its presentations, seemed like 
some winged fairy bearing us willing captives through scenes of en- 
chantment akin to that which first surrounded Adam and Eve. Our 
appetites had been so sharpened by a rich display of earth's products, 
that had some huge serpent dodged out from among the foliage that 
skirted the road, and invited us to partake of forbidden fruit, we 
might not have been able to resist the temptation. 



m, 



East Florida Seminary. 

i^5^HE East Florida Seminary is a State school, and one of the 
leading educational institutions in Florida. It is open for both 
^ male and female pupils. It is a permanent seat of learning, 
designed to give a liberal and thorough normal education and train- 
ing of students, free of tuition charges, from each of the twenty-two 
counties east of the Suwanee river, in proportion to the representation 
of each county in the lower branch of the Legislature. These students 
are termed beneficiaries, and are selected by the commissioners of 
each county. Other students from any part of the country may be 
admitted by the trustees of the Seminary, on the payment of a tuition 



EAST FLORIDA SEMINARY. 85 

fee of $5 for a quarter, of nineteen weeks. The trustees are appointed 
by the governor with the consent of the Senate. A wish to foster and 
encourage an educational spirit in its citizens has ever been one of 
the most praiseworthy features in our national Government. As an 
outgrowth of this policy, when Florida was a territory, she received 
from Congress a grant of two townships of land for the expressed pur- 
pose of establishing two seminaries of learning, one upon the east, the 
other upon the west of the Suwanee river; and when Florida became a 
State this donation was increased by two additional townships. No 
earnest efforts seem to have been made to utilize these munificent 
grants until sometime after the State Government was established. 
Then after a long delay a portion of the land was sold, the proceeds 
invested and the seminaries located, one at Gainesville, the other at 
Tallahasse. 

Col. J. H. Roper was the first president of the East Floric'a Semi- 
nary, followed by Dr. Dudley, Hon. A. A. Robinson, Mr. Sneed, Rev. 
E. A. Meaney, W. C. Miller, and the present incumbent. Prof. E. P. 
Cater. Col. Roper still occupies the i^residency of the Board of Edu- 
cation, and exerts a marked influence on the policy and progress of 
the institution. When the present president, E. P. Cater, entered 
upon his duties in 1877, the policy of the school had been to invite 
all who chose to attend without tuition fee. This policy continued 
for awhile, until it became clearly evident that the school was not 
much above the grade of a common school. The seminary was 
finally organized upon the plan of a graded school, and the enroll- 
ment and attendance of pupils was largely increased, but very few 
counties were represented, and the fact was recognized by its officers 
that it was not fulfilling its mission as a State school. In 1880 
changes were made, placing the seminary into a higher and a 
broader field of usefulness. A normal and an experimental or model 
department were organized, and a small tuition fee was required of 
all pupils other than State pupils; a standard of literary attainments 
as requisite for admission was adopted, and a pamphlet distributed 
setting forth the advantages offered by the school. There was an in- 
crease of more than one hundred per cent, in representatives from 
the other counties and of non-resident pupils; also of increased edu- 
cational advantages. Upon application to the Secretary of War, 
Lieut. A. L. Wagner, 6th Infantry, U. S. A., was detailed as Com- 
mandant of Cadets and Instructor in Military Tactics, and the semi- 
nary was furnished with an equipment of cadet rifles and accoutre- 
ments. A complete military organization was adopted, and the 
students were placed under strict military discipline. Changes wer^ 



bb EAST FLORIDA SEMINARY; 

made in the curriculum, offering increased facilities in the prosecu^ 
tion of linguistic and commercial studies; and a musical department 
was organized for the benefit of such students as desired instruction 
in instrumental and vocal music. The East Florida Seminary now 
offers to the youth of the State advantages equal, in a literary point 
of view, to any of our colleges, and in healthfulness of location, ex- 
cellence of scientific and military equipment, and in the discipline, 
morals and esprit de corps of its students, it is surpassed by no 




THE EAST FLORIDA SEMINARY AT GAINESVILLE. 



institution of similar grade in the South. All the departments of 
the seminary are in charge of accomplished and efiicient teachers, 
who are, for the session of 1883-'84, as follows: 

Edwin P. Cater, A.M. (Oglethorpe University), President and In- 
structor in Arithmetic, Bookkeeping and Penmanship. To his wis- 
dom, energy and perseverance is largely due the present excellence 
of the institution. 

A. L. Wagner (West Point), 1st Lieutenant, 6th Infantry, U. S. A., 
Commandant of Cadets and Instructor in Algebra, Geometry and 



BOARD OF INSTRUCTION. 87 

Surveying. Under Lieutenant Wagner the military department has 
become one of the leading features of the institution. 

Rev. F. Pasco, A.M. (Harvard College), Chaplain and Instructor in 
the Ancient Languages. 

G. Y. Renfro, A. M. (Lebanon, Ohio, Normal University), Normal 
Teacher and Instructor in Geography, History and Science. 

C, C. Cochran, (University of Virginia), Instructor in English 
Language and Literature. 

Frazier Thomas, M. D., (College of Physicians and Surgeons, Bal- 
timore), Surgeon. 

Mrs. Laura G. French, Matron of Female Department, and 
Instructor in Vocal and Instrumental Music. 

Miss V. P. Carrington, weekly lessons in Elocution. 

The Annual Sessions begin the last week in September, and end 
about the middle of June. The course of study is thorough, prac- 
tical and logical, affording ami)le preparation for the ordinary avo- 
cations, or for the study of any of the learned professions. The 
training class prepares students for successful and intelligent teach- 
ing in the common schools of the State. All male students, not 
physically disqualified, are required to wear the prescribed uniform, 
and to take part in all military exercises. The Seminary has a full 
equipment of Cadet rifles and light artillery. A complete and costly 
chemical and physical apparatus renders the study of the natural 
sciences interesting, as well as instructive. 

The fine parade ground at the new, handsome and commodious 
building, makes the East Florida Seminary, with its many appoint- 
ments, as an educational institution, without a peer in Florida, and 
on a par with many of the noted institutions of learning in the 
North. While it is not a college proper, it is chartered with the power 
to confer degrees and grant diplomas. 



Legislators, Judges and U. S. Officials, 

fi% LACHUA COUNTY is ably represented in the State Legislature 
S^\y by Senator John Boston Dell, Representatives Leonard G. 
"^^ Dennis, Benjamin Rush, Matthew M. Lewey and Wm. Trapp. 
The latter two are colored, the others white, and all but Mr. Trapp 
are residents of Gainesville. Mr. DELL completed his education at 
the Military Institute at Marietta, Georgia, was elected colonel of the 



88 DISTINGUISHED LEADERS. 

militia in 1859, and served in company F., 2d Florida Cavalry, C.S. A., 
during the war. He is engaged in the livery business at Gainesville; 
also in farming and stock-raising. He is a native of Alachua, a demo- 
crat in politics, and his five-year term expires in 1885. Mr. DENNIS 
is from Massachusetts,v5^herehe received a high-school education. He 
served during the war as private in the 8th Massachusetts Regiment, 
afterwards as first and second lieutenants, and finally captain in the 
40th Massachusetts Regiment,!!. S. A. He is a lawyer by profession, 
but at present is the senior partner of the firm of Dennis & Wallace, 
lumber merchants, in Gainesville. Mr. Dennis is a republican in 
politics; has been colonel and Chief of Ordinance for the State, 
brigadier-general of militia, has served in the Senate six years, and 
eight years in the lower house. He is familiarly known as the 
" Little Giant of Alachua," a term applied to him by reason of his 
small stature and his power upon the political stump. He came to 
the State immediately after the war, and passed through years of 
the most deadly political warfare. In the present era of good feel- 
ing, he has strong friends and influence among all parties. Mr. 
LEWEY is originally from Baltimore, but more recently from New 
York and Pennsylvania. He graduated from the Lincoln Univer- 
sity of the latter place, and completed his education at the Harvard 
University Law School, Washington city. He served in one of the 
first colored organizations raised for the U. S. A., and was 
wounded. He came to Florida in 1873. Is a lawyer and a teacher by 
profession ; has been postmaster and Mayor of Newnansville, and is 
a Justice of the Peace. He is a republican in politics, and his two- 
year term will expire in 1885. Mr. RUSH is a native of North Caro- 
lina; completed his education at Villa Nova College, Pennsylvania. 
He was lieutenant of Company F., 1st North Carolina Regiment, 
and later of Starr's Light Battery, in the C. S. A. He has been 
chief clerk in the U. S. Land Office, general land agent, speculator 
and farmer. Is now junior partner of the real estate firm of Halli- 
day & Rush, of Gainesville. He was nominated Senator in 1880, 
and is now on his second term in the Assembly. He is a republican, 
and his term expires in 1885. Mr. TRAPP was born a slave in South 
Carolina. He is self-educated. His business is that of a farmer. 
He was County Commissioner for two years, and is now serving 
his second term in the Assembly. He is a republican, and his term 
expires in 1885. 

The court-officers are as follows: Thomas F. King, Judge of fifth 
circuit, embracing Alachua, Putnam, Marion, Levy and Sumpter 
counties; J. A. Carlisle, clerk; J. C. Gardner, Judge of County 



THE PIONEER NURSERYMAN. OV 

Court; Samuel C. Tucker, Sheriff; Samuel Winges, Assessor; H. C. 
Denton, Collector. Residences at Gainesville. 

The United States Land Office is located at Gainesville, where 
lands can be entered by any one in accordance M^ith the Government 
laws controlling such entries, at $1.25 per acre. L. A. Barnes is 
Register: John F. Rollins, Receiver; J. E. Webster, Daniel W. 
Martin and Watson Porter, clerks; with James E. Bell on special 
service. 



Representative Horticulturists and 
Agriculturists. 

^1^ R. L. a. BARNES, of Gainesville, is the pioneer in the orange 
^- ijL^ nurGery business. He came to Alachua county from Wal- 
<r^2^f _9 tham, Mass., in the fall of 1865. He has ever since led a 
very busy life as a politician, an officer of the government and as a 
cultivator of the soil. He owns 10,000 acres of the best land in Florida. 
His first venture was in growing cotton, in which he was engaged for 
about seven years, at what he calls his old plantation. It contains 
about 3,500 acres, and is situated northwest of Gainesville, in town- 
ship 10, range 18, on the Plants road from Rowland's Bluff, near what 
is now knosvn as Jones ville. In 1872 he was called to the position of 
sheriff and tax-collector of the county, which position he ably filled 
alternately for six years. He was then made register of the U. S. 
Land Office, in which position he has since been most active and en- 
ergetic, and has faithfully performed its diities to the present time. 
On the northern border of Alachua lake, about two or three miles 
from Gainesville, he owns 1,600 acres of beautiful hummock land, 
comprising sections 22 and 14, township 10, range 20. The great 
natural wonder, Alachua Sink, of which mention has been made, is 
included in this possession. The township cite of Tarver, overlook- 
ing the lake was formerly a part of his possessions. It was given 
by Mr. Barnes to the Florida Southern Railroad as an encourage- 
ment for the company to build its line to Gainesville. Surround- 
ing Tai'ver, Mr. Barnes has 1,000 acres of the finest rolling hummock 
filled with natural curiosities, and an abundance of oak, hickory, 
red bay, magnolia and wild grape, together with a six-year-old 
orange grove, in the most prosperous condition. This grove con- 
tains 1,000 trees, set 30 feet apart in straight rows one-tliird of a 
mile long. It occupies 20 acres. Between these rows he raises an- 
nually $1,000 worth of cotton, which, alone, supports the grove. 



90 L. A. BARNES AND BUTTON & CO. 

Two hundred and fifty acres of the balance of his land here is under 
cultivation. Upon a few acres of land at the rear of his fine resi- 
dence in Gainesville he started an orange nursery six years ago. 
The enterprise was scoffed at by others, and failure predicted. He 
has now the oldest and the only nursery from which 1,000 trees can 
be obtained. To this nursery he has constantly added new pur- 
chases, until he has five acres in all filled with orange trees, 
from six years old down to the merest seedlings. His ground is 
kept in the best state of cultivation, worked every few days, while 
the trees are carefully watched, trimmed and fertilized. On the 
east of his nursery, he has, fortunately, one of the finest muck beds 
in the county. It is almost equal to northern peat. This is com- 
posted with lime or stable manure, hog manure, cotton-seed or 
asli^s. He claims that cotton-seed is the very best of orange -tree 
food, and has never used fancy fertilizers. His six-year trees, of 
the Homosassa variety — 400 in all— planted from the seed, are now 
in bearing, with from 25 to 50 oranges to a tree. Those in the 
vicinity of his cow-pen are the furthest advanced. Trees in the 
neighborhood, planted at the same time, from the same seed, but 
which have not had the same amount of care and attention, are 
not more than half as far advanced. 

Orange seeds are usually planted in boxes where they can 
be better cared for, and where tbey will take more strength 
from the water and the fertilizer. From these boxes the 
seedlings are planted when one year old. Of these seedlings, 
Mr. Barnes ha^ 200,000 planted annually, to be set out in January 
and February following. The three-year trees are best for tranS' 
planting from the ground. In all, Mr. Barnes has 30,000 trees in 
his nursery, all seedlings. Among his best budded fruit he has 
seven varieties, as follows: Homosassa, Satsuma, Mediterranean- 
sweet, Nonpareil, Magnum bonum, Naval and Hartslate. A smart 
man can bud about 500 trees in a day. In one corner of the nursery 
are 200 pecan-nut trees, and a few Japan plum-trees. The pecan 
grows well here, and are very profitable. At twelve and fifteen 
years of age they average a yield of |50 worth to a tree. Mr, 
Barnes has 2i acres in two other nurseries in East Gainesville, con- 
taining together 12,000 young trees. 

H. F. BUTTON & CO., in company with L. A. Barnes, at Orange 
Point on Alachua lake, own beautiful lands planted to orange 
groves which bid fair to become the finest and the most profitable in 
the State. The land is high, upon a bluff rising 50 to 60 feet above 
the level of the lake, and in the most fertile portion of the Arre- 



DUTTON & CO. AND J. R. BEVILL. 91 

donda grant. They have 280 acres in all, on 50 of which a new 
grove was recently formed, the timber having been just cleared from 
it. In the midst of this young grove vegetables are ])lanted, of which 
yield 2,000 crates were last season shipped to the North, while hun- 
dreds of bushels were allowed to rot on the ground. There are 10 
acres of bearing trees, nine of which are budded on sour stalks 
which grew here spontaneously. The waters of the lake, which flow 
around this point, are filled with an immense growth of maiden cane, 
one acre of which is sufficient to feed eight head of cattle for one whole 
year. Among the other products upon this Orange Point property, 
are bananas and egg-plants, the latter requiring the richest of soil 
for profitable growth. Barnes, Dutton & Co., are to clear 20 more 
acres of this property, and plant them to orange groves, which will 
make the locality one of great attraction. It is a most beautiful 
spot, and the birds flit hither and thither about it at all seasons, 
making the air melodious with their tuneful notes, and, by their 
lingering, prove their appreciatioffi of the natural charms surround- 
ing the place. 

Mr. JOHN R. BEVILL is undoubtedly the model farmer of Ala- 
chua county. He has at least 1,000 acres under cultivation, at what is 
known as Fort Clark, seven miles west of Gainesville. He owns 52 
horses, 200 head of cattle and other stock, devotes himself to the staple 
products, and conducts his farm in the most profitable manner. 
During the season of 1882, he planted 300 acres to oats. They were 
harvested about the first of June, and were fine. The heads w^ere 
well and heavily filled, and the straw of excellent length. He em- 
ployed two reaping machines and a threshing machine, the latter run 
by steam, and capable of threshing 400 bushels a day. 450 acres of 
corn were planted this spring (1883), j)loughed by eight men only, with 
walking cultivators drawn by two horses. His yield averages 18 to 20 
bushels to the acre, making a crop of between 8,000 and 9,000 bushels. 
The balance of his land is utilized about as follows : 100 acres -to 
pease, 25 acres to potatoes, 2 acres to sugar-cane, from which he 
makes his sugar and syrup, 60 acres worked by others on a half 
interest, and some portions of the remainder rented outright. Each 
year, he raises at a mere nominal cost, 150 head of hogs which are 
fed in the fields from the oat stubble, and from the pease which grow 
continuously, and potatoes, both of which are grown for their 
especial benefit. On such rich food these hogs fatten quickly, and 
average when slaughtered 250 lbs. each. They live, as the term is, 
"like pigs in clover." He devotes himself to the Berkshire and 
Jersey Red breeds. Among the cattle he has 75 Short-horn and 



92 J. R. BEVILL AND W. K. CESSNA. 

Jersey half-breed, and 10 full-blood. He keeps 100 ewes, from which 
he sells their yearly increase of lambs to the butchers, at $2.50 
apiece; also 100 goats, whose yearly increase is disposed of in like 
manner. Large quantities of butter are made upon the farm, under 
the superintendence of Mrs. Bevill, wiio also takes great pride in a 
poultry yard, filled with chickens, turkeys, guinea-hens and geese ; 
also in a fine garden from which she realizes a good revenue. Mr. 
and Mrs. Bevill are energetic people, and are being rewarded with a 
sufficiency of this world's means. 

As an idea of the cost of labor on such a farm in Florida, it might 
be stated that Mr. Bevill has in his employ from 15 to 18 hands, who 
are paid $11 a month and rations, which consist weekly of 1 peck of 
meal and 3 pounds of meat. Sometioies he has from 40 to 50 hands 
at work. He has also a30-acre orange grove, about 2 acres of which 
are in bearing. Mr. Beviil has been here about 20 years, during 
which time he has gradually accumulated his vast possessions. He 
attends personally to the superintendence of all his work. 

W. K. CESSNA, of Gainesville, is the leading strawberry grower 
in the county. He is considered authority on Florida agriculture and 
horticulture, and has delivered several lectures on these subjects. 
Mr. Cessna and William Porter, together own large tracts of land, 
and have 36 acres between Gainesville and Alachua lake, planted to 
orange, pear, and the native persimmon trees. While these trees are 
growing, vegetables are grown between them, the strawberry pre- 
dominating, and have yielded large returns. Mr. Cessna, at the 
close of the war, sufi:ering from bronchitis, came here for his health. 
He first engaged in cotton growing, then in general merchandise, 
then to growing fruits and vegetables, and now devoting his great 
attention to fruits and strawberries. In the latter pursuit he was 
the pioneer. He grows 40 popular varieties of strawberries, together 
with numerous unnamed varieties, with which he is constantly experi- 
menting. One new variety he calls the Florida seedling, but it would 
be better named the Lad> Cessna, as the first plant was discovered 
growing from the top of a berry, by Mrs. Cessna. It was transplanted, 
and proved to be a strong, rampant-growing vine, excelled only by the 
Sandhill. For his Sandhill plants he paid 25 cts. apiece. The best berry, 
as tested by him, is the Mobile, or improved Newnan's. It is the best 
bearer, the best for shipment, and requires less care, as it will grow 
well anywhere among the grass. The Manchester, Charles Downing, 
President Wilder, Knox's 700, Wilson's, the Albany, Boy den's No. 
30, and some others which he has tried, do not grow satisfactorily. 
The Crescent seedling will grow among the grass, is very hardy, and 



HON. -J. T. WALLS. 93 

is a very prolific bearer. The Federal Point, the most like the wild 
berry, is thrifty, but not so good in bearing as others. For the cele- 
brated Manchester plants he paid 10 cents apiece, but they require a 
great deal of fertilizing, and the leaves rust off. The Shapeless has 
a large bush and a large berry, but the leaves rust. 2,000 quarts can 
be easily raised from an acre of ground and pay well. Mr. Cessna 
has contracted to furnish a party in New York, next season, 100,000 
quarts of strawberries, said party to furnish plants, baskets, crates 
and refrigerators. From these he will realize $15,000 with which to 
pay for his labor, and the use of his land. In addition to the fruit, 
strawberry plants sell at from $2 to |3 a thousand, which makes 
the business a profitable one. Of course, tlie plants cannot always 
be sold, but the planter can sell some. Two large refrigerator cars 
have recently been built for the strawberry business in Florida, also 
large refrigerators for use on the steamers. The berries are picked 
and put into 32-quart crates, which are placed inside the refriger- 
ators, and their arrival in good condition at the northern markets 
fully assured. Mr. Cessna thinks the time is not far distant when 
whole trams will leave Alachua county loaded with strawberries for 
the North. He says the best soil for strawberry growing is a reason- 
ably firm soil, with a clay subsoil about 18 inches to two feet down, but 
the best guide is its adaptability to corn raising. Where corn can be 
grown 30 bushels to the acre, is the best for strawberry raising. The 
best mulching for the strawberry is the cow-pea. It should be dried 
and rotted, and then worked around the vines. It will keep the 
berries clean, the grass down, and is a good fertilizer. 

Mr. HINES, a Massachusetts man, who has a field next to Cessna 
& Porter, from l^o acres of land sold $500 worth of strawberries. 
The Wingate property of 20 acres, for which the owners paid $7,000, 
also adjoins their estate. 

Hon. J. T. WALLS, ex-Congressman, from Florida, an influential 
and highly intellectual colored man, is the largest truck-grower in 
the State. He has doubtless been the most successful and has made 
the most money from his products. He is himself a most excellent 
farmer, and woiks in the field, taking the lead among his own em- 
ployees. He has one of the best farms in the State, 1,800 acres in all, 
750 of which is under cultivation. On an acre of land he i-aises on 
an average, 75 crates of tomatoes, sure. The season of 1883 was a 
very successful one, and the yield was 200 crates to the acre. He has 
gathered as many as 1,100 crates from 2i acres. Previous to the war, 
Mr. Walls' farm was owned by J. W. Hari'is, a wealthy South Caro- 
linian. It was then considered the best plantation in the State, and 



94 J. T. WALLS AND D. W. L. BARTON. 

upon which was raised more cotton per acre than upon any other 
in the county. It was then upon the border of the great Payne's 
prairie, which was one of the richest places for cattle- graziDg in 
Florida. Since the prairie became flooded, it has occupied a two- 
mile frontage on the great Alachua lake, where it has a high bluff 
and a good beach. The water-front also gives Mr. Walls excellent 
transportation facilities by the steamers of the Alachua Navigation 
Company. These steamers come within half a mile of his house. 
The plantation is very prettily located between the lake and the 
Florida Transit Railroad, the nearest railroad shipping station being 
Arredonda, about two miles distant. Mr. Walls, for himself, culti- 
vates to vegetables from 250 to 300 acres. A large portion of the 
balance he rents to other parties, either on shares, or at a stipulated 
price iDcr acre. The season of 1883, Mr. Walls sold his entire tomato 
crop to Mr. Flewallen, another large planter, who had Durling & 
Co., of New York, as a partner, for 85 cents a crate delivered at the 
depot, for which he was paid $1,000 cash down, at the beginning of 
the season, as security. His crop yielded 6,000 crates. These, he esti- 
mates, cost him 38 cents, leaving him a net profit of 47 cents per 
crate, or $2,820 for his season's work on tomatoes alone. Mr. Walls 
makes the following estimate of the cost of a crate of tomatoes: 
Production, 5 cents; fertilizer, IJ^ cents; picking, 5 cents; packing, 
5 cents; wrapping-paper, 1 cent; crate, 10 cents; nails and nailing, 
5 cents; hauling to station, 5 cents, making a total of 3734 cents 
delivered at the station. The freight on a single crate to the North 
is 45 cents, with perhax)S 5 cents more for cartage. The commission 
for selling is 10 per cent., so that the cost of a crate in the northern 
markets to a producer is 87i<£ cents and the commission, according 
to Mr. Walls' estimate. These crates, in the early shipments, bring .|3 
and $4 per crate, sometimes more, and then dwindle in price from 
that down to 50 cents, and sometimes 25 cents in the late shipments, 
or from rottage or other unforeseen causes. Mr. Walls considers 50 
cents net profit on a crate of tomatoes about the average for a 
season. The planters differ very much in their statements on these 
matters; but from the testimony of Messrs. W. F. Rice, E. Ramsey, 
D. W. L. Barton, Rawlins & Wilson, and Flewallen, of Arredonda, 
whose opinions averaged, would be considered authority on this 
matter, the writer thinks Mr. Walls has not under-estimated the 
cost of production, nor over-estimated the average net gain per 
crate. 

Mr. D. W. L. barton, another large truck farmer, owns 483 acres 
of land, about half of which is hummock. 150 acres are cultivable, 



D. W. L. BARTON AND E. RAMSEY. 95 

and 92 acres are under cultivation. 80 acres (some rented to others) 
are devoted to vegetables and 12 to an orange grove, in which are 
550 thrifty trees from two to five years of age. Mr. Barton has been 
in the county seventeen years, during which he has seen many dark 
days. In 1882 he purchased in Iowa (his wife's native State), about 
100 miles east of Council Bluffs, a tract of 160 acres of land, and now 
has a good home both North and South. 

Ten years ago he planted an orange grove in the woods at Orange 
Point, and afterwards cut out the native growth. He has already 
taken five good croj^s from those trees. One tree measures thirty- 
eight inches around the trunk. Many of the settlers purchased their 
land of Mr. Barton. He recently sold his house at Arredonda, for 
the purpose of building more extensively near by. The vegetable 
business commenced here about eight years ago. Mr. Barton and 
Mr. Perry, of Hummock Ridge, accompanied the first two carloads 
of watermelons to New York. They sold for 75 cents apiece. The 
sale was so satisfactory, that, on their return, he purchased 1,600 
acres of the Hummock Ridge property, which extends from the 
Hummock Ridge station very nearly to Gainesville. The vegetable 
crop for the season of 1883, Mr. Barton says, has been a good one for 
him — about the best. Of cucumbers alone he shipped 4,700 crates, 
which sold on an average for $2 a crate. His tomato sales averaged 
$1.50; cabbage, $3; beets, $2; and string-beans, $1.75. The sales 
were very satisfactory. The cucumber market broke, mostly on ac- 
count of careless packing; but good cucumbers brought good prices 
all the way through. He dealt with good commission merchants 
and stuck by them. Some agents, he says, drum up stuff energeti- 
cally, get over-stocked, and sell at any price. It breaks the market, 
and the producer is the loser, and largely owing to his own care- 
lessness in picking and packing. In working his farm, Mr. Barton 
has fine system, and everything about the place is as quiet as Sun- 
day. On the 11th of July, 1882, Mr. Barton shipped tomatoes which 
sold for $2 a box. A great many tilings can be raised here with care 
at good profit; egg-plants usually pay well. Mr. Barton is doing 
quite well with a young orange nursery. He says Arredonda is a 
good place for a man with small means, if he is willing to put his 
own shoulder to the wheel and work the same as elsewhere. 

Mr. E. RAMSEY, of Arredonda, is another large planter. He has 
300 acres of cultivable land, 200 of which he cultivates each year, 
letting 100 of the 300 alternately rest once in three years. He plants 
corn, oats, and vegetables of different varieties, his packing house 
being close to the depot. He says his corn averages about 10 to 15 



96 L. K. RAWLINS, DENTON AND LIPSEY. 

bushels per acre, beans from 50 to 80 bushels, tomatoes from 50 to 75 
bushels, and. cucumbers 200 bushels. He ships principally to the 
eastern markets, some to the western ; but the latter is not yet fairly 
opened, and no fancy prices for early products can be obtained. 
Sometimes in shipping West good prices are had, but at other times 
they are very poor. The average is bad and unsatisfactory. Mr. 
Ramsey says labor is plenty at Arredonda and good. They never 
have trouble with it. 

Mr. L. K. RAWLINS, of Gainesville, who came here from Delaware 
three years ago to escape death by quick consumption, cultivates at 
Rocky Point, on Alachua lake, 80 acres of rich hummock land. His 
products are cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, beets, Irish and sweet- 
potatoes. Mr. Rawlins is one of the most enterprising men in 
Gainesville, and is engaged in the real estate business with Mr. Wil- 
son, another successful planter at Arredonda. They are about to en- 
gage largely in orange culture. 

Mr. H. C. DENTON, of Gainesville, has a fine farm near the lake, 
and is a large shipper of the earth's products. Hundreds of others 
might be mentioned. 

Mr. W. B. LIPSEY, of the Archer nurseries of Lipsey & Christie, of 
Archer, is among the leading nursery-men of the State. He has 
115,000 seedling orange trees one and two years old in nursery, and 
several thousands of other trees for the market. He has several 
groves, between the trees of which, whilegrowing to bearable age, he 
plants nursery trees for the market. For his own purpose, and as 
a specialty, he has fresh-bearing sprouts on old orange-tree stumps, 
which were brought from twelve to fifteen miles distant, and trans- 
planted in a row around one of his groves, looking like old veterans 
standing guard over the new aspirants for bearing fame. He has 
about thirty of these stumps, the most of them being in the vicinity 
of thirty years of age. Very few in the North would think of trans- 
planting a tree at such an age, and Mr. Lipsey 's experiment only 
goes to show the tenacity of the orange trees. Among his other 
fruit trees and vines, which do well at Archer, are the Le Conte, 
Smith's hybrid, Hiefer and Conkling pears, Chinese and Champion 
quince, early harvest apple, transcendent crab-apple, Japanese per- 
simmon and Japan plum, olive, Peento and other peaches, chestnut, 
Ives' grape and grape of Eschal, silk mulberry, which he thinks 
might be grown by the millions at a good j^rofit; and, as an experi- 
ment, he has tried raising the tree-bean, which he finds does well. 
The Navy bunch-bean is hard to grow. He has a Japanese persim- 
mon tree standing not over four feet high with one and a half inch 



I 



W. B. LIPSEY AND DR. MONTGOMERY. 97 

stock, which recently bore twenty-three specimens. A Japanese 
plum tree not six years old had ripened a second crop, and looked 
fine. Mr. Lipsey claims to have planted the first Peento peach tree 
in his neighborhood five years ago. It yields from four to five 
bushels annually. His olive trees, four years old, have not yet 
fruited. They were imported from Fi-ance. Mr. Lipsey favors bud- 
ding oranges. He prefers to bud on sour stock, but works some on 
sweet stock to suit patrons. He has good samples of his work in 
heavy-bearing two-year-old buds on two-inch stock. He believes in 
planting an orange grove with trees 35 feet apart, between each of 
which in the straight row should be planted a peach tree, and in the 
centre of the square so formed, a pear tree. The peach trees giving 
out in a few years, leave the ground to the pear and the orange. 
In this way, Mr. Lipsey gets from an acre of ground, about 38 orange 
trees, 38 pear trees, and 76 peach trees. For his own use he has 
1,000 Le Conte pear trees, on some of which he has budded the 
Bartlett pear, and finds them doing nicely. It is thought by 
many that apples will not grow in Florida, but Mr. Lipsey has 
several trees which have fruited well. The land is quite high and 
dry about his premises, yet he has built a three-foot trench about 
his nursery on the side next the woods. This is to keep out the 
forest roots, and also the salamander, a little animal that burrows 
in the ground and eats the roots of the young fruit trees. Altogether, 
Mr. Lipsey has from 600 to 800 acres of land, with several houses 
upon them. He is one of the progressive men of Archer. He came 
to this place about five years ago, with but a few hundred dollars, 
to test the climate. He became so delighted with it that he sold his 
farm in Marion, Indiana, and began life in Florida, with thirty-five 
years' experience in nurseries North. He has been very successful 
here. He is called to all parts of the county to graft trees and to 
plant groves, and does quite a business in raising groves for other 
parties. 

Dr. LUCIUS MONTGOMERY, of Micanopy, has at his residence 
there an orange grove containing 600 trees, occupying 21 acres of 
ground. These trees are planted 35 feet apart, and a number of them, 
thirteen years from the seed, measure 41 inches in circumference below 
the first fork. He has also a number of lemon trees, the Cicily and 
the ever-bearing varieties, which, with his house and stable, occupy 
four acres more. Adjoining his grove he has a cotton gin and a 
grist mill, both of which are run by steam power. He keeps cattle 
of the improved breed, and 500 head of poultry, for the raising of 
which he claims this locality to be fine. Epidemic cholera has at- 



98 DKSi L. MONTGOMERY AND A. H. MATHERS* 

tacked his poultry but twice in fifteen years. He feeds his cow^ 
largely on wheat bran. They give excellent milk in generous quan- 
tity, from which he makes the richest butter. At Kirkwood, near 
Levy's lake, the doctor has 800 orange trees planted in verdant 
hummock land; also at Lakeview, on the Alachua lake, where he 
has a hard, sandy beach, he has forty acres planted to oranges.- 
Two and a half miles northeast of Micanopy he has 220 trees on 
forty acres, and 250 trees, forty feet apart, on a portion of the Hick^- 
son Johnson place in the same vicinity. The doctor states that the 
approximate cost of raising, shipping and selling a box of oranges 
is about 11.25. The cost includes tax on land, hire of labor to culti- 
vate grove, gathering, wrapping, boxing, hauling to depot, freight 
charges, comriiissiou for selling, and one-half of one per cent, to get 
check converted into cash in hand. All that a grower gets per box 
above $1.25, is net profit. 

Dr. a. H. MATHERS, of Micanopy, is a very successful orange 
grower. He has two groves surrounding his home, occupying in 
all but one and one-quarter acres. From these small groves Dr. 
Mathers is satisfied, with his careful and personal attention to the 
trees, that he gets as good returns as some others with larger groves. 
In all he has about 108 trees. They bear him annually, on an aver- 
age, 500 bushels of oranges. His oldest trees are 15 years and are 
set 20 feet apart. His youngest trees are 13 years and set 30 feet 
apart, in diagonal rows. The youngest trees are the best bearers. 
They occupy level land about 2}.^ feet above the others. They aver- 
age 2,000 and 3,000 oranges to a tree. The oldest trees are on land 
slightly inclining. His trees are the native Tangarine, which are 
rare in this county, as they are difficult to grow, by reason of the 
cold, which affects them more severely than other oranges. They 
do not suffer, however, so much from insects, and therefore have 
one great advantage. Their bearing capacity is from 4,000 to 5,000. 
The doctor claims that orange trees bear biennially outside and in- 
side. That is, they bear most largely upon the outer branches one 
year and upon the inside the next year, and so alternate, but the 
Tangarine is more annual in its bearing. Near bis house, between 
it and the gate, he has one tree which bears annually from 10 to 15 
crates. One year he was paid $56 for its fruit laid at the foot of the 
tree. Another year it bore 3,000 oranges. From 80 trees the doc- 
tor's average receipts are $1,500, in addition to which there are 
losses by rottage and other ways. Medium-size oranges are the best 
for the trade. They average about 146 to a bushel. Small crates 
average from 105 to 110. Two cents apiece is a fair average price 



«i 



JOHN L. GOODSON AND WM. M. ROBINSON. 99 

for good fruit. A man can personally attend to about eight acres, 
or 300 trees, and give them proper care. They require careful trim- 
ming from the inside outwards. Top soil hummock fallings — mulch 
picked up with a shovel — is among the best of fertilizers. Home al- 
kalies, stove ashes, etc., may be utilized to good profit. A small 
grove well handled can make as much money for its owner as 
larger groves, as all the fruit can be readily attended to without 
waste. Good Tangerine seed, planted on good land, will on an aver- 
age produce bearing trees in five years. 

Mr. JOHN L. GOODSON, of Melrose, has a fine grove. It contains 
nearly 1,000 trees. For the fruit of one of his 11-year-old trees he 
received $57 in one season, without the expense of removing it. 
Many of his trees annually yield from 2,000 to 3,000 oranges each. 
They bring $15 a thousand. 

Mr. WM. M. ROBINSON, Chairman of the Board of County Com- 
missioners, has a very extensive and valuable orange grove near 
Gainesville. The w^riter did not get an opportunity to visit this 
grove, but has heard it repeatedly spoken of as one of the representa- 
tive groves of the county. 



Florida Long Cotton. 

^^f^ F. BUTTON & CO., composed of H. F. Button, John Nichols 
Gl, l^^ and Walter Robinson, furnish the Willimantic Company ex- 
^^ clusively with Florida cotton. Button & Co. buy directly from 
the planters and pay cash down. The planters heretofore passed their 
crops off for dry goods, groceries, hardware and taxes; now they re- 
ceive gold for their cotton and pay their bills in cash. The house of But- 
ton & Co. has done much good for Florida in buying direct from the 
planter and paying the highest market price for his produce, and 
other firms are establishing themselves in the same line all over the 
State. Heretofore the fine and coarse cotton were lumped and sold 
together ; but by pajang higher prices for the finer grades of long 
cotton, the planters have been induced to be more careful and to 
get the quality of their cotton up to a very high grade. At the 
Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia it took a medal ; at the Paris 
Exposition in 1878 it took a medal, winning opinions of the very 
highest w^orth from the manufacturers of delicate silk fabric — those 
men whose touch is as discerning and acute as the softest hand of a 
lady ; and at the Atlanta Cotton Exposition, where it came in com- 
petition with the cotton from the Sea Islands, it took the first pre- 
mium. 



100 



FLORIDA LONG COTTON. 



The long cotton of Florida has now become to rank in fineness and 
quality with the cotton grown on the Sea Islands of South Carolina 
and Georgia, which States for a hundred years have grown the finest 
and best produced in the world. This is attributed altogether to 
the pains and extreme care in the selection of the best seed. The 
growing of long cotton was as much a business of science with the 
wealthy planters before the war as any other industry, and is 
continued to this time. The planters of Florida, spurred on to 




BUTTON & CO.'S GINNERIES. 

emulate the more successful planters of the Islands, purchased 
their fine seed, and learned from them their mode and manner of 
growing and preparing the article for market, and so successful have 
the farmers of Florida become that they are excelling their teachers. 
The long fibre of the Sea Island cotton is from two to two and 
three-quarter inches in length, of a beautiful silk-like texture, as soft 
and pleasant to the touch as thistle-down, as strong as hemp and 
very durable. So fine and so profitable has it been proved by for- 
eign lace-makers and others to make into spool-cotton, that the 



FLORIDA LONG COTTON. 



101 



Willimantic Spool Thread Company, of Connecticut, commenced 
its use on trial and have increased their demands for it until they 
now buy over 5,000 bales of it each year, through the banking and 
cotton-buying house of H. F. Button & Co. , of Gainesville. 

There is no country in the world so well adapted to the growth of 
this particular staple as Florida, and the numerous growers of cotton 
all over Alachua county have shown themselves adepts in its culture. 
It will not grow on the uplands of Georgia and South Carolina with- 
out losing its distinctive quality and becoming short and coarse. 
The peculiar geographical position of Florida, lying, as it does, be- 
tween the Atlantic and Gulf, and its shores washed by the Gulf 
stream, produces an atmosphere adapted to the improvement of the 
length, strength and fineness of tlie staple nowhere else to be found. 
Hence Florida, by nature, is favored above all other countries for 
producing this beautiful staple, that is spun into hand and sewing- 
machine thread, from number eight to five hundred; into most 
beautiful laces, wherewith ladies add to the taste and elegance of 
their dress ; and so deftly mixed and woven into the finest silks, 
satins and fine velvets that it is impossible to tell, and only the best 
experts can detect. Lovely women, with elaborate and costly-made 
silk dresses, do not know that much of the material is Florida long 
cotton, which makes the silk a better article and wear and last 
longer, and to all appearance is as pretty, as good and as elegant as 
the best from the looms of Lyons, France. 

Thus, whilst fruit and vegetables receive so much attention, the 
growing of cotton is not lost sight of. 




DAn S NUFFIN LIKE COTTON, SAH I 



102 



THE RAILROAD CENTRE. 

fROM Fernandina or Jacksonville, there are two ways of reaching 
Alachua county. One is by way of the St. John's river to 
Palatka, and thence via the Florida Southern Railroad, which 
runs through the orange belt. The other is via the Transit Railroad 
from Fernandina. 

The Florida Southern Railroad, from Palatka, passes through 
Alachua county from the eastern boundary line near Waite's Cross- 
ing, due west as far as Gruelle. Thence it diverges in two direc- 
tions, one due south, to Ocala in Marion county; the other northwest 
to Gainesville, and on to Newnansville, where it connects with the 
Live Oak, Tampa & Charlotte Harbor Railroad for either the North 
or the West. The stations on this road in Alachua county are, 
Waite's, Hawthorn, Magnesia Springs, Gruelle, Tarver, Gainesville, 
and its terminus, Newnansville, on the main line: on the southern 
division, are Evanston, Micanopy and Orange Lake, thence into 
Marion county. The Florida Southern enterprise was planned and 
organized by Mr. N. R. Gruelle, of Gainesville. Work was begun at 
Palatka, in 1881, and the road completed to Gainesville, a distance 
of 50 miles, that same year. Later, the southern division was 
built. The line of road, as contemplated in the charter, covers the 
finest territory in the State, and lands are for sale all along the 
line. The road is largely owned by Boston capitalists, and under 
the present efficient management, the company is becoming very 
active. The present officers of the company are: John W. Candler, 
President; John R. Hall, Vice-President; W. L. Candler, Treasurer; 
all of Boston, Mass.; Shuman Conant, Gen. Manager; Jas. D. Hol- 
lister; Genl. Superintendent, and C. A. Boardman, Land Commis- 
sioner; all of Palatka, Fla. 

The Transit Railroad from Fernandina enters the county just above 
Waldo, there diverging in two directions. The main line passes 
through Waldo, Yulee, Fairbanks, Gainesville, Hummock Ridge, 
Arredonda, Palmer, and Archer, and thence on to Cedar Keys. The 
other division runs due south from Waldo, through Saludia, Camp- 
ville, Hawthorne, Lockloosa, and on to Silver Springs. 

The above makes four different means of entrance into the county- 
seat of Alachua county: From the West, via Live Oak and New- 
nansville ; from the North, via Fernandina, Callahan, Baldwin and 
Waldo ; from New Orleans by boat to Cedar Keys, and thence to 
Gainesville; from the St. John's river, via Palatka. From Jack- 



ROUTES OF TRAVEL. 



103 



sonville, the course is via the St. John's river, reaching Palatka by- 
boat, and there connecting with the Florida Southern Railroad, 
or, reaching Baldwin, via the Transit Railroad. In addition to 
these there are fast being built other lines, one of which, nearly- 
completed, is from Glen Cove Springs by way of Melrose, and 
thence through Gainesville and on to the Suwanee river, tapping the 
various towns in the southwestern part of the county, and bringing 
them into the market. This will make six different railroad exits 
from and entrances to Gainesville, thus connecting with every point 
in the State. 

For the best route to the North and the Southwest, see the adver- 
tisement of the Savannah, Florida & Western RR. 

It is thought that the ship canal will penetrate Alachua county, 
in which event, its facilities will be incomparable. 

Alachua county stands pre-eminent in all the advantages that 
Nature or the mind of man can bestow upon her, as a pi ice where 
riches and happiness can together be secured. 




104 



PHILIP MILLER, 



DEALER IN 



STjPLElFANCY GROCERS, 



CORN, OATS MS HAY, 



FINE CANDIES, FRUITS, ETC., 



PUBLIC SQUARE, 



GAINESVILLE, - - FLORIDA. 



105 

BANK OF THE MIDLAND. 



H. F. Button. J. G. Nichols. W. G. Robinson. 

H. F. DUTTON & Co., 



DKALICRS IN 



Sea Island Cotton, 

Gainesville, Florida. 



General Agents American Cotton Gin Roll Covering. 



H. G. ROBINSON, Resident Partner, No. 323 BROAD ST., PROVIDENCE, R. I. 



Transact a General Banking Business. Deposits Received, 
Collections Made and Proceeds Promptly Remitted. 



Correspondents: — National Citizens' Bank, New York ; Merchants' 
"National Bank, Savannah ; First National Bank of Florida, Jacksonville. 



ira;igb,©s.1i; @a»£t, prices Faidi fae s©a ^^i^u.^ Cottpa in Se>e>d oi 
per Ball©* ask p©?: gradt©- 

Cotton Ginned on the Most Favorable Terms. 



So much trouble has been experienced in getting business promptly 
■conducted with the United States Land Office, at Gainesville, in cases 
where the services of an Agent or Attorney were required, that we have 
employed a Clerk particularly for this business. 

Entries made, land bought, documents filed, information furnished 
and maps and platts ordered. 



106 

f 
I 



Ftoral FtoHdal 



FLORIDA ORANGE GROVES. PEENTO PEACH ORCHARDS. 

LE CONTE PEAR TREES. WINTER VEGETABLE GARDENS, 



HE fine domain, embracing over Two Thousand acres, having 
a high, healthful, picturesque surface, with subsoil, known 
to experts as peculiarly adapted to orange growing, and 
abounding in water veins of absolutely pure water, lying be™ 
tween two railroads north and east of, and adjacent to, Gainesville, 
has been secured by the undersigned and subdivided into lots of Five 
or more acres to supply the demand of persons who wish to grow the 
fine products of Florida culture, and, at the same time, live in the 
midst of a polite and refined society ; where they can enjoy 
educational, religious and commercial advantages, including easy, 
prompt and rapid communication with markets. 

This tract is higher in altitude than Gainesville itself ; it is 
upon the divide between the waters of the St. John's and of the 
Suwanee rivers; it is equi-distant from Dead man's Bay on the Gulf, 
and Matanzas inlet on the Ocean, being 65 miles from either. Con- 
stant breezes from the Ocean and from the Gulf alternate with each 
other, making the atmosphere gratefully cool; and the odors from 
the pine woods, mingling with the sahne ocean air, and the pure 
water, and absence of all malarial influences, assure perfect health. 

Daily Fruit and Vegetable trains (in the seasons) pass directly 
through the domain, bound for the northeast and the northwest; 
thus bringing the markets of New York and of Chicago to our very 
doors. The laborers in our groves regulate their hours by the morn- 
ing, noon and evening whistle of the Gainesville manufacturers; 
and our children attend the East Florida Seminary (the most 
advanced educational institution in the State) while living at home. 

There is no element of desirable social privileges lacking in 
Gainesville. 

It is the County Seat of the largest County (in population) in 
Florida; it has fine hotels for tourists; it is the site of the United 
States Land Office for Florida; it has an active and growing 
commercial and manufacturing consequence; it is a great railroad 
centre, and prides itself on the refinement and law-abiding character 
of its citizens. 

The Proprietors are pledged to admit no obnoxious person to an 
ownership, and one of the conditions of purchase is, that no liquors 
shall be sold by any purchaser. 

Prices low and terms within reach of all. Address: 

L. A. BAKNES, Gainesville, Florida, 

OR 

H. C. WHITNEY, 44 Ashland Block, Chicago. 



107 



B^ 



ORANGE NURSERY, 

GainesA^ille, F^lorida.. 



150,000 Trees Ready for Transplanting, 
from 3 to S years old. 



SEEDLINGS AHD BUDDED STOCK OF ALL VARFETIES. 



Mediterraneum-Sweet, Homosassa, 

Satsuma, Nonpareil, 

Naval, Magnum bonum. 

Etc., Etc. 



Lowest Market Prices and on Most Reasonable Terms. 
Call on or address, 

L. A. BARNES, 



108 



GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA. 



210 FEET ABOVE TIDE LEVEL. 




"THE ARLINGTON," Gainesville, Fla., 

is first-class in all Its appointments. Many improvements have been made in the 
liouse since last season, and it is now one of the most attractive winter resorts in 
Florida. Situated fifty miles from the St. John's River, half waj^ between the 
Atlantic Ocean and the Grulf of Mexico, in the midst of the pine lands of Alachua 
County, at an elevation of two hundred feet above tide level, it offers a clear, drj^ 
atmosphere, unsurpassed for health. Game in abmidance, and with the lakes and 
ponds teeming with fish, make it an attractive point for sportsmen. 

The house has accommodations and every convenience for comfort for one 
hundred and fifty guests. Billiard and Pool Room, Reading and Smoking Room. 
Fire-places in all the rooms. Electric Bells, Bath Rooms and Verandas. The table 
will be supplied with the best the Northern and Southern markets afford. 

HOW TO REACH GAINESVILLE. 

Tourists can take the Waycross Short Line from Savannah, Ga., making close 
connection at Callahan with the Florida Transit Railroad to Gainesville; also at 
Fernandina with Florida Transit running between Fernandina and Cedar Keys— or 
if they are in Jacksonville, take the Florida Central Railroad train to Baldwin, 
which connects with the Transit road stopping at Gainesville, or the Florida 
Southern from Palatka to Gainesville: two trains daily on each road. 

For further information and circular address 

J. C. RYDER, Proprietor. 



lOd 



\ariittm H^tef^ 



WEST MAIN STREET, 

Southwest cor. of Public Square, 

GAINESVILLE. - FLORIDA 



W. N. McCORMIOK, Proprietor. 



*|S AVIISTG leased the above hotel, it is my piir- 
C pose to make it as attractive to visitors a^ 
any house in the State. A competent corps of 
waiters is in attendance, and the cooks are first - 
elass. The table is furnished with the best this 
or the Northern Markets afford. The largest and 
airiest rooms in the city. 



m^MTMmt $J«0^ per Pay* 



For further information write or apply to 

iV. N. McCORMICK, Proprietor. 



110 



STATE NORMAL SCHOOL^ MILITARY INSTITUTE. 
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA. 

Established by Act of Florida Legislature of 1851. 



The Annual Session begins in September and ends in June, and is divided 
into two terms of nineteen weeks each. 

Every applicant for admission must undergo an examination in such manner 
as shall be prescribed by the Board of Education. 

All candidates for admission must be of good moral character, and must have 
attained the age of 13 years if males, and of 12 years if females. Applicants 
uf capacity to make apt and good teachers, who will sign a declaration of inten- 
tion to follow the business of teaching primary schools in the State, are, in all 
cases, to be preferred. 

Each county in the State, east of the Suwanee River, is entitled to send to the 
Seminary as many scholars or beneficiaries as it may have representatives in the 
House of the General Assembly of Florida. They shall receive all the benefits of 
instruction of said Seminary free of all charge, the said scholars being selected 
by the Board of County Commissioners of said counties respectively. 

Any number of students will be received from the counties, but all except 
county appointees will be received as Pay Students. 

County appointees pay no tuition. All other students pay for each term of 
nineteen weeks tuition fees as follows : 

For English Course, proper, _ - _ . $10.00 

Por Ancient Languages, an additional fee of - 5.00 

Por Book-keeping, " " - 5.00 
Por Lessons on Piano or Organ, 18 Weeks, 2 lessons 

per week, - 20.00 

Por Lessons in Voice Culture, 18 weeks, 2 lessons 

per week, 20.00 

Por Lessons in Kudiments of Vocal Music, 18 weeks, 

2 lessons per week, - - . . 4,00 

TUITION FEES MUST BE PAID ONE-HALF IN ADVANCE, THE 
BALANCE AT MIDDLE OF TERM. 

Books for class F, cost about $4.00 ; for class E, about $ ; for class D, 

about $5.00 ; for classes C, B, and A, about $6. 

Board in good families costs from $12.50 to $15.00 per calendar month. 
Washing $1.00 per month. 

BOARD OF EDUCATION: 
Hon. J. H. Roper, Brest., Gainesville. , Judge T. F. King, Gainesville. 
W. W. Hampton, Esq., Gainesville. Mr. J. D. Matheson, Gainesville. 

Dr. James M. Jackson, Bronson. I Maj. Albert J. Russell, Jacksonville. 

Prof. W. N. Sheats, Secretary (ex-offlcio), Gainesville. 

BOARD OF GOVERNMENT AND INSTRUCTION: 

Edwin P. Cater, A.M., President. 

A. L. Wagner, 1st Lt. 6th Inf. U. S. A., Commandant of Cadets. 
Rev. F. Pasco. Chaplin. G. Y. Renfro, A.B. C. C. Cochran. 

Miss V. P. Carrington. Mrs. Laura G. French. T. Fraser Thomas, Surgeon. 



CHATEAU-BRIANT. 



Ill 



FRENCH AND ENGLISH 

Boarding and Day School 

FOE YOUNa LADIES AND OHILDEEN. 

THE " ROUND TABLE CLASS " (in Art, Literature, etc.), 
INTERMEDIATE, PRIMARY, KINDERGARTEN. 



NEW BUILDINa. AMPLE ACCOMMODATIONS. 



Instruction given in Latin, Greek, the Modern Languages, Music, Drawing and 
Painting, if desired, in addition to the English Branches of all grades. 

Practical lessons in Housekeeping, Sewing and Embroidery will also be given 
for the benefit of such pupils as may wish to avail themselves of instruction in 
these useful branches of a young lady's education. 

Mrs, LAURA E. FRENCH, Teacher of Music; and other competent instructors. 

For further particulars address 

Mrs. J. 0. EASTMAN, Principal, 
GAINESVILLE, FLA, 

EASTM AN'S BOO K STORE. 

Toys, Fine Candies and Crackers, 
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, RUSTIC FRAMES, CHROMOS. 

7--Se7eii-Cent Oouiiter.--7 

Headquarters for the School Books in use in Alachua and 
Levy Counties. The Trade Supplied. 

South Side of Public* Square, 

JOHN C. EASTMAN, 

GAINESVILLE, FLA, 



112 



FLORIDA SOUTHEM 

The Orange Belt Route of Florida. 

DOUBLE DAILY PASSENGER TRAINS. 



ALiL, STEAMERS on the ST. JOHNS RIVER connect with this line at 
PALATKA for GAINESVILLE, NEWNANSVILLE. OCALA, LAKE 
WEIR and LEESHURG, SUMTERVILLE, BROOKVILLE and TAMPA.. 



FAST TRAIN AND SMOOTH TRACK 



Passenger Coaches Equipped with all Modern Improvements. 



Close connection made with Northern Fast Mail Trains and Charleston 
Steamship Lines. 

SHERMAN CONANT, J. D. HOLLISTER, 

Gen'l Manager. Gen'l Supt. 

2,000, 000 A CRES. 
FLORIDA SOUTHERN RAILWAY 

LAND GRANT. 



ORANGE AND GRAZING LANDS, 

EASY TERMS TO ACTUAL SETTLERS. 



Large bodies of choice grazing land will be sold at a low 
figure, and stock mei\ would do well to examine it. 
For particulars write to 

C. A. BOARDMAN, Coin'r of Lands F. S. Ry., 
Palatka, Fi,a, 



113 



"9 



Livery and Feed Stable, 

(OPPOSITE THE ARLINGTON HOUSE), 



GAINESTILLE, FLORIDA. 



o[[SES For Sale and Exch/nge. 

Fine Teams Furnished to Visitors and others 
at Reasonable Prices. 



m&mm'^® mwMmmmB 



(jainesville, - - Florida. 



114 



[Established June, 1878.] 






Having lately made many additions and improvements in 
machinery, I am prepared to do all Kinds of house-furnishing 
work, such as Window and Door Frames, Mantle Fronts, etc., 
at short notice and low prices, 

I have constantly on hand a large variety of Mouldings, 
also Hand-rail for Stairs and Balustrades. Sawed and turned 
Balusters, Brackets and Scroll-sawing of any desired pattern 
done to order. 

Seasoned Lumber constantly on hand. I would invite those 
contemplating building houses, yard fences, etc., to give me a 
call and get prices. 

My Mills are right in the heart of the city, and only three 
blocks from the Public Square and business portion of Gainesville. 



B. C. DRAKE, 



McCLELLAN & ELLIS, 



115 



Hardware and Furniture. | 

Our two immense storerooms in Dennis' Block, as also 
our brick warehouse, are now filled to their utmost ca- 
pacity with a well-selected stock of 

FURNITURE, 

STOVES and HARDWARE, 
PAINTS and OILS, 

SASH and BLINDS, 
CARPENTER and TABLE CUTLERY, 
&c., &c., &c . 

We have every article in our several departments likely 
to be called for in housekeeping, from the most elegant 
bed-room suits to everything required in the domestic de- 
partment of a well-kept house. 



McCLELLAN & ELLIS, 

DENNIS' BRICK BLOCK, 

GAINESVILLE, - FLORIDA. 



116 

gI6N •:• SF V f KE V 60LDEN •> K0RPE-3P0E. 



Mrs. F. X. MILLEE'S 



Millinery aDil ?ariety Store, 



Cor. WEST MAIN and UNION STS., 

GAINESVILLE, - FLORIDA, 



The Latest Styles 



The Greatest Variety 



NEW AND SEASONABLE GOODS. 



m@wmi,,TiMM 



LACES, RIBBONS, SILKS, STRAW- GOODS, 
GLOVES, MITTS, &c. 



Our stock is complete in every particular, enibracing everything 
usually found in such an establishment, and we are constantly 
adding a fresh supply of fine goods. Give us a trial. 



C. A. SHELDON, 



117 



DEALER IN 



iAMlLY ilOGllIlP 



iSfflJ 



QUEEN'S-WARE, TIN-WARE, &c. 

Choice Brands of Flour a Specialty. 

GAINESVILLE, FLA. 
A. J. VI DAL, 

Apothecary i Drnggist. 

A SELECT ASSORTMENT OF DRUGS AND MEDICINES, 
CHEMICALS, SOAPS AND TOILET ARTICLES. 

TRUSSES AND SUPPORTERS KEPT CONSTANTLY ON HAND. 



Landreth's Celebrated Garden Seeds a Specialty. 

Prescriptions carefully compounded at all hours of the day and nig^ht. 

GAINESVILLE, FLA. 




118 

JAMES DOIG^S 

AND 

MACHINE SHOPS, 

GAINESVILLE, - FLA. 

I am pre'ared to make castings, either of brass or iron, of an> dimension or 
form ; also machine works of all kinds, such as 

Steam Engines, Saw Mills, Cotton Gins, Sugar Mills, Sugar Kettles, &c. 

Also Manufacturers' Agents for anything in the Machine line, properlj' and 
promptlj^ attended to and work guaranteed. 

Slo!e, Tin-ware anl House-rurmliiiij Establiskenl, 

(NEAR THE BANK) 

OAINKSVIIvI^K, = KL^ORIDA. 



C. B. DODD, Proprietor. 

C.^^DODD. ~~" W. J. CAVE Y. 

DODD & CAVEY, 

Practical Tin Reefers and Workers in Metals of all Kinds. 

ROOFING, SPOUTING, VALLEY TIN 
AND JOBBING OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS, IN CITY AND COUNTRY. 

ROOFING OVER OLD SHINGLES WITHOUT EXTRA EXPENSE 
ESTIMATES arVEN. COEEESPOHDENOE SOLICITED. 



119 

HAMPTON & JORDAN, 

Fii'B and Life Insurance Agent?, 

GAINESYILLE. FLA., 

Represent the Following Companies : 
THE LIYERPOOL, LONDON & GLOBE: 

Assets in U.S. . . . »5,ol4,962.Sl 
Income 1882, in U. S,, . . 8,310,805.99 
Sxirplus inU. S., . . 2,646,325.12 

l/osses cashed upon adjustment without discount. 

NEW YORK UNDERWRITERS' AGENCY : 

Cash Capital, . . . $2,000,000.00 

Total Assets, .... 5,03(1,202.67 

FACTORS AND TRADERS' INS. CO. of NEW ORLEANS: 

Total Assets, . . . «1, 103,038.03 

NEW YORK LIFE and THE MANHATTAN LIFE INS. COS. : 

Two of the most reliable Companies in the United States. 
Insure your Property or Life in one of the above with 

HAMPTON & JOED AN, Agents. 

SAM'L Y. FINLEY. WM. W4.de HAMPTON. 

FINLEY & HAMPTON, 

ft-Mim m Still mi f ii@fd Ooiiti. 

Cor. EAST MAIN and MECHANIC STS., 

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA. 

ALSO 

GENERAL HOUSE AND SIGN PAINTER, 

GAINESVILLE, FLA. 

Churches, Lodge Rooms, Hotels and Residences Decorated in the Highest 
Style of the Fresco Art, in New and Original Designs or after Architects' Plans. 
Fine House Painting, Graining, Paper Hanging, &c., at Moderate Prices, 



120 

NEW YORK CLOTHING STORE. 

MOSES ENDEL.] •-♦-^ [H. HERMAN. 

ENDEL & HERMAN, 

DEALERS IN 

CLOIEIIS m GEITS' FBIIB GOOIS, 

HATS AND CAPS, 

TRUNKS AND VALISES, 

(L. A. Barnes' Brick Building,) 
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA. 

— DEALER IN — 

General Merchandise, 

FAMILY SUPPLIES A SPECIALTY. 



CASH PAID F OR COUNT RY PRODUCE. 

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA. 



#% ^®.^ ®fe^ 



BOOTS AND SHbES MADE TO ORDER, 

ANV STYLE, AT SHORT NOTICE. 
GOOD FIT AND GOOD MATERIAL GUARANTEED. 



®@)@^® ^mm mmmnm mt Mm^m. wmiom 



GAINESVILLE, , , . . FLORIDA. 



121 



SEIGLER S PHIFER, 

DRY GOODS I GROCERIES, 

BOOTS, SHOES AND NOTIONS. 



Replenishing our stock of general merchandise from time to time, we keep 
our shelves and cotmters well filled with the freshest and choicest articles, and 
sell the same at the 

Lowest Possible Price for Cash. 

An inspection of our stock is respectfnlly solicited, feeling satisfied that, after 
a fair trial, the public will feel warranted in bestowing on us a liberal share of 
their patronage. 

SEIGLER & PHIFER, 

"^Tv^'est Side of I=-u.'blic Sq."u.a,re, 
GAINESVILLE - - FLORIDA. 

J. F. McKINSTRY, M.D., 

* pi(J^dTI(3l(|pHY^I(;ii||\li^UI(E|E0M, 

GAINESVILLE - - - FLORIDA. 
CRAWFORD & JACKSON, 



GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA. 



The Highest Cash Price Faid for SEEF, HUITOK and FORK, 

Orders from a Distance Promptly Filled, 



MISS T EBEftU^S SCHOOL, 

BOARDING AND DAY PUPILS RECEIVED, 



DEPARTMENTS; 

ENGLISH— Primary, Intermediate and Collegiate; 
MUSIC. 

WEST MAIN STREET, 
GAINESVILLE, , . . , . FLORIDA. 



■WW©&^< 



Besianraot and BoardiDg House. 

ACCOMMODATIONS FOR BOTH REGULAR ANP TRANSIENT GUESTS 
BY THE DAY OR WEEK. 

Cor, EAST MAIN and LIBERTY STREETS, 

GAINESVILLE, - - . - FLORIDA. 
MATHESON & McMILLAN, 

REAL ESTATE AGENTS, 

:F'^iu-2- T-^2^ES ^OZe. InT O OiT - Xa E S 1 3D E 3iT T S, 
BUY AND SELL LANDS, 

Improve arid Nl air age Orange Groves, 
Attend to all Business connected with the U. S. Land Office. 

NOTARY PUBLIC 

FOR STA TE OF FLORIDA A T LARGE. 



SPECIAI. ATTENTION GIVEN TO THE EXAMINATION OF RECORDS 
AND TO THE PERFECTING OF TITLES. 

GAINESVILLE, - - - FLORIDA, 



123 

3-. XI. :E=os'r, 



DEALER IN- 



Jewelry, Silverware, Watches, Clocks, 

AND 



All goods are guaranteed as represented. 



J. H. POST, - - - - GAINESVILLE, FLA* 

DEALERS IN 

General Merchandise. 

GROCERIES A SPEC f A LTV. 

GAINESVILLE, - - - FLORIDA. 

OLIVER PARK , 

ON THE LINE OF THE FLORIDA SOUTHERN RAILROAD, 

near GAINESVILLE. 
Fitted in every way for the comfort and pleasure of visitors. Dancing HaU, 
Bathing, Swinging, Delightful Strolls, Refreshments, etc., etc. 

p. M. OLIVER, Prop. 

DENNIS & WALLIS, 

Lumber Merchants, 

L. G. DENNIS. GAINESVILLE, FLA. ^_ ^^^^,. 

ALACHUA ADVOCATE, 

Published Weekly at Gainesville, Fla. 

Devoted to the Interest of the State in General and of Alachua County 
in particular. 

J. C. Mccreary, Publisher. Subscription $2.00 a year. 



134 

IDa,il3^ a^nd- TX7"eeli:l3r Bee. 

Gainesville, F^la. 

Containing all the local news and a full resume of the general news of the day 

Daily, 8^5.00 a year. Weekly, S3. 00 a year. 

CHAS. L. FILDES, Editor and Proprietor. 



WALDO, KLORIDA. 

J. B. eTOHNSTON, 

Published Weekly. Editor aiid Proprietor. 

J . H . LOVE, 



DEALER IN 



Drugs and Medicines, 

Dr. J. N. D. CLOUD, 
NEWNANSYILLE, FLA. 



DEALER IN 



General Merchandise, 

N'eitmansv ille, Florida. 

W. H. QEIQER, 

DEALER IN 

New^ans yille, Florida. 

Dr. WILLIAMS, 

Practicing Physician, 

NEWNANSVILLE, FLA. 
K. K. KAOAN, 

DEALER IN 

General Merchandise, 

Ne^vnans^ille, F^la. 



125 



DEALER IN 

Dry-Goods, Notions, Hats, Gaps, Glothing, 

BOOTS aaa-d. SiHOES, 

mmi AND BLASS-WE, TIN-ME, KAMAHE, 

GROCERIES, BACON, SALT, 

FINE LIQUORS I CHOICE CIGSRS, 



-ALSO- 



A Fine Assorfment of Drugs and Medicines. Advances Made on Crops, 

aler in SEA ISLAND COTTON, and will make Liberal I 
on Consignments. 

NEWNANSVILLE, FLA. 



10,000 ^^OPiES 



pOR SALE- 

OF THE 

l©gt limligj ?©g©tibk aii f nil Liiii 

IN ALACHUA COUNTY; 

ALSO, 

TOWN LOTS IN NEWNANSVILLE. 

For particulars, call on or address, 

F. P. OLMSTEAD, Newnansville, Fla. 

FLORIDA MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE ASSOCIATION. 

AN ACCURATE SYSTEM OF PUOTEOriNG PROPERTY AGAINST LOSS FROM FIRE. 



It is an association of three separate and distinct departments, viz.: Isolated 
Residence, Ttlercantile and Machinerj-. Each department is composed of indi- 
viduals obligated to help the members of his own department in case of mis- 
fortune by fires that are purely accidental or unavoidable. 

The funds to indemnify loss are accunmlated by assessments. Each department 
being assessed only to pay losses occurring in its own department. 

ExeciitiYe Office, MTCANOPY, FLORIDA. 

DAVID A. MII.I.EK, Secretary. 



126 

S. D. SMOKE, M.D., 




P 






MIOANOPY, FLORIDA. 



J. L. PATTON & CO., 



DEALERS IN 



DRY AND FANCY GOODS, 

GROCERIES, HARDWARE, 

TENNESSEE WMONS, WHITE SEWING MSCHINES, 

MICANOPY, _ - - - FLORIDA. 

JV£JV FIRM! NEW GOODS! NOW READY : 



A. H. CENTRE & CO. 

HAVE A FULL STOCK OF 

lij &@@ii,^ ir@§©ri©i,, iitjj l@@ti, Sh@isjj 

HARDWARE, TIN- WARE, 

AND ALL ARTICLES USUALLY FOUND IN A GENERAL STORE. 

First-Class Goods, Low Prices, and Courteous Treatment. 

MRS. JOHNSON'S BUILDING, 

A* m* ©AW ir©M^ 

DEALER IN 

GROCERIES, PROVISIONS, ETC., 

NOTIONS, HOSIERY, CLOTHING, BOOTS, SHOES, HATS, 

CAPS, HARDA^ARE, CROCKERY, 

MICANOPY, FLORIDA. 



121 

J. COOPER MATHERS, 



MICANOPY, FLORIDA, 

— DEALER IN — 



PAINTS, OILS, VAENISHES, DYE-STUFPS, 

Fancy and Toilet Articles, Stationery, Perfumery, 
Soaps, Brushes, Sponges, Etc. 

WADE A. GEIGER, 



^«5»| 



GROCERIES, DRY GOODS, FANCY GOODS, 

HARDWARE, CROCKERY, TIN- WARE, GENTS' FURNISHING 
GOODS, and Everything found in a FIRST-CLASS STORE. 

COTTON GINNEU AND GRIST MILLER. 

ARCHER, FLORIDA. 

DEALER IN 



GEOOERIES, DEY GOODS, EANOY GOODS, 

HARD WARE, CROCKER V, TIN- WARE, GENTS' FURNISHING 
GOODS, and EveryUmtg kept in a FIRST-CLASS STORE. 

ALSO DEALER IN — 

LIVE STOCK AND ORANGE TREES, 
ARCHER, FLORIDA. 



G. M. BLITCIZ, 

DEALER IN 



ARCHER, FLA 



138 

J. D.. GEORGE, 

FANCY GOODS, MILLINERY, 

CLOTHING, HARDWAKE, TIN- WARE, AND ALL GOODS 
FOUND IN A FIRST-CLASS STORE ; 

ARCHER, FLORIDA. 

F. a. BATTKlTiaHT, 

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL 

Butcher § Stock Dealer, 

— AND DEALER IN — 

lOE, rUENITUEE AND GENEEAL MEEOHANDISE, 
ARCHER, FLA. 

70 Acres of Land, ^ mile from Depot, for Sale ; also 10 Acres of Improved Land, 
with House and 100 Bearing Orange Trees, }/^ mile from centre of Town. 

HORSES AND BUGGIES TO LET. 

-W. I.. JAC2SS01T, 

DEALER IN 

DEY GOODS, CLOTHING, NOTIONS, 

BOOTS, SHOES, HATS, CAPS, 

Groceries and General Merchandise, 



J. W. WILLIAMS, 

General Agent, 

ARCHER, FLORIDA. 



129 

AT THE ARCHER NURSERIES OF 

half mile southeast of Archer Depot, are cultivated and kept for sale all kinds of 
Fruit Trees adapted to this section of the country, with Shrubbery, Vines, etc. 

Prominent are the leading kinds of BUDDED ORANGE TREES, LeCONTE and 
other SOUTHERN HYBRID PEAR; PEENTO and other PEACH, JAPAN PER- 
SIMMON; CHAMPION and other QUINCE, LEMON, FIG, &c., &c. 

Orange Groves planted and cultivated by the year for non-residents. 
Land bought for Groves if desired. 

A young Grove of 25 acres and 40 acres of Land for Sale, one mile from depot, of ORANGE, 
PEAR, PEACH, &c. Plenty of good Orange and other Fruit and Farming Lands for sale cheap. 

Some lands to donate to Good settlers with small means. 

For further particulars address, with stamp, 

LIPSEY jg CHRISTIE, Archer. Fla. 



ALL KINDS OF VEHICLES ADAPTED TO THIS 
COUNTRY MADE TO ORDER. 

Blsic3ssana.itlii3n.g^ a^ond. Oa,xria,g^e I^epsiirixig^. 

ORDERS BY MAIL PROMPTLY ATTENDED TO • 

ARCHER, FLORIDA. 

DEALER IN 

. General TVlerctiandi^e, 

BOOTS, SHOES AND GROCERIES, 

LOTS in the Town of MELROSE, FLORIDA, for Sale on Reasonable Terms, 

▲GENT OF TRANSIT & PENINSULAR R. R. AND SOUTHERN EXPRESS COMPANY. 

X.. -WERTHSIM, 

DEALER IN 

<^ FANCY cboDS, ^^ 

GROCERIES, HARDWARE, 

AND 

ALL KINDS OF GENERAL MERCHANDISE, 



180 

R. B. SMITH, 

HAWTHORNE, FLA., 

400 Acres Land for Sale, 

— SUITABLE FOR — 

ORANGE OR VEGETABLE CULTURE. 



r'zeiCEs i^ieoiuE $10 TO ^50 i=Eia -^cxse. 



ADimE^s AS ABOVE, HAWTHORNE, FLA. 



J. B. ADKlNS. E. A. ADKINS, 

ADKINS BROTHERS, 

HAWTHORNE, - - - - FLORIDA, 

DEALERS IN 

DRY GOODS, GROCERIES, BOOTS, SHOES, 

HATS, CAPS, ETC. 

I^CLOTHINC A SPECIALTY..^ 

IXigfliest ^vdlaxlcet X=»rice ^aicS. for Co-u.a=i.tr3r ^rod-VLce. 

W. F. RICE, 

General Merchandise, 

ARREDONDA, FLORIDA. 

G. H. Sutherland, 

AKKBDONDA, FLORIDA, 

has two very desirable places for sale ; one contains 
20 acres, the other 60 acres. Object, principally, 
to have close neighbors. Price very reasonable. 
Me. Sutheelatstd is no Land Agent. 



131 

FLOBI DA ORA NGES. 

Remember that I am still in business and would be 
pleased to receive your consignments of oranges and early 
vegetables. I can do as well for you as any one in the trade. 
Respectfully, 

JOSEPH B. KEEDY, 

P.S. — Stencil furnished Grocer and Importer of Fruit, 

on application. Savannah, Georgia. 



f/ 1) 

Now offers to the Public a Complete and Well-Assorted Stock of 

m GOODS, OHOSERIES, BOOTS AND SHOES, KAMAHE, 

and everything else in my line, at prices within the reach of all I 

My Motto: "QUICK SALES AND SMALL PROFITS!" 
Give me a Trial and I Guarantee Entire Satisfaction. 

Highest Market Prices Paid for Cotton and Country Produce. 



NOTICE TO THE SUFPEREES. 



^H|R. L. RENAULT, Physician and Surgeon from the Faculty of Paris, France 
Syl late of St. Louis, Missouri, having located at Waldo, Florida, offer my 
/^^ services to the sufferers of the country. 

I have made a specialty of Female and Chronic diseases for the past 
thirty years, with great success, having cured many diseases which have been 
pronounced incurable by other pbysicians. The number may be learned by inquir- 
ing abroad. 

Such diseases as Prolapsus, Tumors, Ulcerations, Retroflexions, Retroversions, 
Enteversions and Displacement of the Womb; also Chronic cases of the Liver, 
Dropsy, and Heart Disease, will, if neglected, in most instances prove fatal. 

My charges are reasonable, and I want the sufferers to receive the benefit of 
my success. Yours, with respect, 
D. L. RENAULT, M.D. 

EDWAED RENAULT & BRO., 



Waldo, Florida. 

Meats and Provisions. 



133 

RAULERSON & AMRROSE, 

DEALERS IN 

GENERAL MERCHANDISE, 

WALDO, - - FLORIDA. 

Groceries and Provisions, Dry Goods, Farmers' Supplies, Crockery and 
Glassware, Hardware, and everything usually kept in a First-Class Store. 

Highest Prices Paid for Cotton and other Salable Merchandise. 
H. RAULERSON. G. H. Ambrose. 

ID. mci2:s. 

Carriage Manufacturer, 

WALDO, FLORIDA, 

Pays particular attention to the manufacture of Fancy Carriages, Business and 
Farm Wagons adapted to this Country. 
Personal attention paid to trimming and repairing all kinds of vehicles. 
Orders promptly attended to from all parts of the State. 

MYRON COLONEY. JOHN T. TALBOTT. H. H. MENAGER. 

COLONEY, TALBOTT & CO., 



QS DBa,37" Street, Ta^clssoan-ville, DPlorida,- 

IMPORTANT Announcement.— We offer 400 splendid town lots at Glen St. Mary, Bak6r County, 
for sale, and ask the attention of all our citizens to them. These lots are 75 feet front by 12.5 
feet in depth, and the first hundred will be sold for $25 each. There is a good hotel there, and 
buildings are going up rapidly. It is a regular mail station on the Florida Central Railroad, 30 
miles west of Jacksonville ; stores, saw-mill, planing mill, shingle mill, &c., close by. Preach- 
ing at Glen St. Mary every other Sunday. Cottages can be built for $400, furnished for $300, that 
will rent winter months for $300, and afford a refuge in summer in case epidemics come to 
Jacksonville. 

Orange Groves made for -Von-JBesJde/ifs.— Unimproved lands converted into bearing orange 
groves on most reasonable terms. Send for circular. 

Orange Trees.— Being agents for the largest Nursery in the State, we can furnish orange 
trees at from 15c. to $2 each. Send for pamphlet. 

City Property.— We make the handling of city property a specialty, and we liberally adver- 
tise all property placed exclusively in our hands for sale or rent. Send for circular. 

Bearing Orange Groves for 5aZe.— We have bearing orange groves for sale in Duval, Clay, 
Putnam, Alachua, Marion, Sumpter, Orange, Volusia, Hillsboro, Hernando, Levy and Manatee 
counties, at from $2,000 to $25,000. Send for circulars. 

Tracts of Land for Colonizing.— We have tracts of land from 1,000 to 20,000 acres, convenient 
to railways and navigable streams, and fronting upon lovely lakes, which we are prepared to 
sell at from $2 to $5 per acre. Send for circulars. 

Homes in Florida on the Installment Plan.— We will sell lots of five acres or more on Brow- 
ard Manor. Floral Park, Floramel, Jupiter Island, and Glen St. Mary, upon small down pay- 
ments, and upon monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual installments, with absolutely no 
forfeiture. Send for our circulars. 

United States Lands Located.— We have information respecting the position of more than 
1.000,000 acres Government Land", which can be entered at $1.25 per acre, and are worth to-day 
$10 to $50 per acre. Send for circulars. 

Railroad Lands for Sale.— We have 500,000 acres, all lying in the orange belt and near to 
stations, at $2.50 to $10 per acre, timber reserved, payments small and long time given. Send 
for our circulars. .... 

Orange Park, the Newport of Florida.— We will sell lots of any size, from 1 to 50 acres, m 
this splendid park of lovely winter homes, at prices that must attract. Send for our circulars. 

Financial Agents.— We will place loans, procure money, collect accounts, examine titles, 
transact notary business, etc., etc., at reasonable rates. Send for our circulars. 



FLOniDA LAITDS 

BOUGHT AND SOLD. 



TAXES PAID FOR NON-RESIDENTS. 



10,000 ACRES TO SELECT FROM 

AT PRICES FROM $10 PER ACRE UP TO $100. 



Examination of Land Titles a Specialty. 

IS^ED E. FAREELL, 

Civil Engineer and Surveyor, 
Wif/i Santa le Canal WALDO, FLA. 



(Norn de 2)lume, ^'Carl.''') 

Traveling 
Correspondent-Journalist, 

HUMOROUS, DESCRIPTIVE AND ARGUMENTATIVE WRITER. 



Author of '■'Old Naumkeag ,"" a history of the old witch town of Salem, 

''Secrets of the Service,^' ''Banker's Crime,''^ '^Eden of the 

Soiith,'^ d'C, and Founder and for ten years 

Editor and Publisher of the Salem 

Daily and Weekly Post, 

Salem, 3Iass. 



Northern Address, Southern Address, 

SALEM, MASS. GAINESVILLE, FLA. 



^AY -41323 



Q. 



